Halo: Forgotten Heroes
by Demo ODST
Summary: Please Rate and Review, i need all the feed back i can get for this story. enjoy! Daniel Wander has been training to fight all of his life. Can he lead this rag tag group of survivors and turn them into the deadly team they need to be?
1. Chapter 1

I checked all of my magazine pouches as I stood in the Pelican's troop bay. The squad had crammed a single twelve man fire team inside of each of the two D-77 pelicans. The sergeant was with the other team, forcing only two troopers to stand in in our bay. The pelican rocked as it flew through the atmosphere, forcing me to grab the cargo net above my head. I glanced at the eleven Orbital Drop Shock Trooper's around me, all of them armed to the teeth. All of us had known each other since drop school, and I was the only one who had seen combat. My teammates and I were all replacements.

"Corporal Wander! You hear me rook!?" our sergeant, George Mason. He thought my team was going to be useless and kept reminding us of that fact.

"Yeah, I hear you Sergeant, what do you want now?" all of the team had their faceplates opaque and were staring at me.

"You FNGs make sure to keep that Landing Zone clear and stay behind us veterans. You get me?" the sergeant despised replacements. The entire regiment had been tasked with helping infantry and marines hold a massive park that was being used to pull civilians off the planet.

"Sergeant, no way in hell. We are gettin in this tango, with you jackasses." My entire team smiled and chuckled a little.

"Fine, guess at least one of you effin new guys has some balls after all!" we all smiled as the drop ship shook again.

"Troopers, get ready, ETA, one minute. We gotta land at the edge of the park. The front lines are only a couple blocks into the city. Good luck boys. Roach 1-3 out." I flicked the safety off on my MA5C. Most ODST's preferred the C variant of the MA5 because of its higher accuracy and slightly longer range, even though the weapon could only hold thirty-two rounds in its magazines, versus the MA5B's sixty rounds. I personally preferred it for weight and feeling reasons. A fully loaded MA5C was lighter than the MA5B, because of the smaller magazine. Also, the slightly shorter weapon simply fit my hands better. Never was truly able to understand it.

"Ten seconds!" the pilots voice rattled through my brain as the craft pitched one last time, leveling out to lower down to the ground. I counted down from ten, preparing to clear out of the hold as fast as possible. At three seconds, the bay doors started opening and I let go of the cargo net. The ground was sitting maybe three feet beneath the edge of the pelican's deck and I leapt down, keeping my rifle aimed wherever I looked. And I looked just about everywhere. The rest of the team filed out, weapons raised and ready for a fight. The pelican lifted back off and gunned it toward the center of the park. I let go of my rifle with one hand, creating a small circle in the air above my head with my index finger. The signal was meant to tell the team to follow me. I jogged off down the street. A couple blocks in, an almost impenetrable wall of buildings stood at varying heights of five to seven stories tall.

"Split into three teams and go into different buildings." My voice seemed unnaturally calm, even too me. I took the building straight in front with three of my teammates following me. The other two four man teams spilt off, heading for buildings on the right and left of the one I was entering. I knocked on the door and it slid open to reveal a small marine Comm station. One of the marines at the table looked up from the paper map in front of him, a look of relief on his face.

"Damn glad you guys are here. Private Sánchez, take em upstairs to the line." My Heads up Display, or HUD, showed him as Lieutenant Peterson. The female private beside the door, who had let us in, was Sánchez. She waved her hand for me to follow as she stepped for the stairs.

"The covenant shelled the buildings in front of us hard enough to collapse em. The rubble goes up to the third story windows and is stable enough to run across. No way through the rubble so we're holding them from the third floor. You got here just in time. We don't know how much longer we could've held." We came onto the third floor landing as she finished speaking. There was a door off to the right that led to the building next door. There was a hand full of marines' setup at the windows as well as an AIE-486H tri-barreled Heavy Machine Gun on its tripod. One of my other teams came up the staircase behind the gun. I nodded to them before I spoke.

"Sánchez, how many of these buildings are connected like this?" she sat up against the partial window sill before she spoke. They had tried to reinforce the wall with sandbags, but a section had still been blown in by something.

"Five here. Sometimes only two or three elsewhere though." I nodded and checked my map. It showed up on my HUD covering most of my view. There was no map data, but it showed the sergeant about two hundred meters north of us.

"Mason, we are holding position roughly two hundred meters south of your position, over." My radio crackled in my ear as he responded.

"Rodger that, rook."

"Holden, take Beasley upstairs and hold there. Mohammed, me and you will hold here, Hooyah?" Hooyah was an old Navy phrase meaning anything, so long as it wasn't no. they all chanted it back as Holden and Beasley ran upstairs.

"Corporal, this here's Tanner." Sánchez pointed at the marine across the blown out section from her as she spoke. I nodded to him as I crouched next to him, behind sandbags they were using to try to plug the gap. Mohammed took up a position on the other side of Sánchez.

"What have you guys been up against?"

"Mostly Grunts and Jackals. Most of the jackals haven't had their shields. Hand full of elites as well."

"What about CAS?" Her eyes dropped as she spoke.

"None. But we do have a pair of four-forties assigned to us. L-T has me spotting." I nodded. I had an uplink module on the left side of my helmet. It had a laser designator on it, allowing me to designate targets for Close Air Support or Artillery support.

"Do you have firing solutions plotted for them?" she shook her head. I cursed and used the range finder on my uplink to find the distance between us and the other set of buildings the covenant hadn't knocked down yet. It read as two hundred and seventy meters. "Ok call in two positions to them, one at two fifty meters, the other at one fifty. Give it about fifty meters between the two guns." She nodded and turned on her radio, calling in the strike locations.

I peeked back up and sat there, half crouched as I scanned the enemy's side of the kill zone. Blue streaks shot up into the sky from four locations behind their buildings. The massive plasma mortars slammed into the rubble, only about fifty meters from us. I ducked down as more were launched. The second artillery volley slammed into the buildings and blasted massive chunks out of them.

"This is Renegade one two Bravo, we are taking fire from plasma mortars on the other side of some buildings, roughly three hundred meters east of our position, any air forces on this frequency, please respond!" I shouted into my radio as third and fourth volleys slammed into the buildings.

"This is Wraith five one. I got eyes on those guns and am going to attempt to knock them out." I peeked out just enough to see a pair of pelican gunships line up on a strafing run. Missiles shot away from the pods tucked under their wings and bluish orange fire balls fired up over the buildings. A swarm of covenant banshees rose out of the buildings and shot after the pelicans.

"Wraith five one, taking fire. We gotta pull out. Sorry boys. Good luck." The two pelicans gunned it toward the park, the banshee squadron hot on their tails. I saw feint movement in the other set of buildings. Thousands of grunts and jackals poured out of the buildings.

"Private, get those guns going." She spoke into her radio and rounds started dropping down onto the enemy force. The four hundred and forty millimeter shells caused massive explosions, taking out entire platoons of covenant. I brought my rifle up; making sure the weapon was on semi-automatic as I did so. Its crosshair appeared on my HUD and I squeezed the trigger. The weapon bucked slightly as it fired. I watched the round hit a Jackal's chest and it collapsed. The crosshair was almost a necessity for ODST's. The faceplate made it difficult for a soldier to look down iron sights.

I ducked back down as soon as I had fired, expecting a return shot. None came. I peeked up and noticed that they weren't returning fire on any of our positions. I used my helmets zoom capability to take a closer look at them. None of them were armed. I opened up a channel on multiple frequencies as I spoke.

"They're unarmed!" I heard similar reports and calls as I raised my rifle and started firing single rounds at them, trying to bring down as many as I could as calmly as possible. The weapon's ammo counter hit zero and I pulled the charging handle back and up, locking it back. I dropped the magazine out of its slot behind the weapons grip. Instead of swapping the empty mag out for a fresh one, I just dropped the empty and slammed the fresh magazine in. As soon as it was in, I slapped the handle down, popping it out of its locked position and it slid forward, loading the first round.

I sighted back in and switched the weapon over to full auto. The jackals and Grunts were close enough to see the differences between the individuals. I squeezed the trigger and swept the weapon across their line, simply letting the 7.62x51mm armor piercing full metal jacket rounds tear apart anything in front of me apart. Tanner's MA5B emptied and he reloaded as my own emptied. All I could hear was thousands of rifle rounds going off as the covenant forces got ripped to shreds. I loaded in a fresh magazine as the last of the covenant were killed. Something felt off and I ducked behind the sandbags. Not half a second later, a beam of plasma lanced out and slammed into Tanner's forehead.

"Everyone, down!" my voice sounded calm to me yet again. Sánchez screamed as stared at her friend's corpse. Beam rifle rounds slammed into the building. Occasionally, a shot would punch through the walls. Green lances joined the beam rifles, marking covenant carbines. "Sánchez, get on the radio and tell those guns to walk their fire forward fifty meters, try to suppress those snipers." She swallowed her anger and sadness and got back on her radio. The high pitched whines of the enemy sniper rounds were suddenly cut off by the massive booms of the four-forties.

I peeked up and saw a mass of jackals and grunts lead by elites. Most of the elites were minors, the lowest rank. Only about a quarter of minor elites used energy shields. Most of the jackals had their round energy shields and had formed phalanxes to protect their fellow soldiers as they advanced. They all started firing their plasma pistols as they advanced. Green globs of plasma slammed into the sandbags and walls. A marine came charging up the stairs, only to be caught in the barrage. His charred corpse collapsed to the floor at my feet.

The plasma fire kept up as they advanced. It was possible to stagger a shielded jackal if you hit it enough. None of us could get a chance to put enough fire on one to do that though. The marines in the building next ours had been wiped out. The ODSTs had to have moved up stairs, for they weren't amongst the bodies. My eyes hit the HMG again and a thought crossed my mind. The gun's tripod was covered with sandbags and the blast shield would protect me as long as I didn't try to aim down the sights. I slung my rifle and prepared to sprint across the walkway between the buildings. The walkways had originally been covered with glass, but that had already been shot out.

I took one last deep breath to settle my nerves, then took off, sprinting toward the gun. Roughly six feet away, I started a slide to keep myself beneath the wall to dodge their fire. I reached up and grabbed the gun's trigger. The AIE-486H took a few seconds to spin up because its barrels rotation was generated by the rounds recoil. Meaning, it took a little bit to reach its highest fire rate. The first rounds fired slowly as I blindly fired the weapon. I was only trying to keep the weapon level and stable. My radio crackled to life.

"Their phalanx is collapsing. Keep up the fire boys." Sounded like Peterson. I stood enough to be able to see and watched the jackals scatter. Most of their other forces had already darted for cover amongst ruins. I swiveled the gun to follow one of the groups as they sprinted for cover. White tracers followed the group. One of the grunt's methane packs exploded. It killed the three jackals nearby it. The elite major with the group made it to some ruins. He was the only one to survive the onslaught. I swept the gun over to a new group, comprised primarily of grunts and elites. I dropped two of the elites before the gun ran out.

"All forces, fall back to the secondary defensive positions, the park is almost clear." Lieutenant Peterson's voice sounded strained over the radio. I grabbed my rifle and sprinted back into my building. I aimed out the window and fired a short burst into a group of grunts. Only two were killed, but the others scattered.

"Sánchez, you're on point! Get moving!" she darted toward the stairs as Beasley and Holden came dashing down from the floor above. I waved them on and they dashed down the next flight as Mohammed ducked out and fired his rifle. A needle shard shot out and punched through his chest plate. I grabbed the handle on his assault pack and dragged him down the stairs. I looked at him again and his vitals showed up on my HUD as killed in action. I cursed and turned to go down the next flight. Sánchez stood at the top, waiting for me.

"Just go!" she nodded and took a step down the stairs. In her haste, she slipped and tumbled down the stairs. I raced down the steps after her, sliding down the last few. She was crumpled at the foot of the stairs. I grabbed her arm and dragged her onto her feet. Her helmet had flown off as she tumbled and she moved to retrieve it, but I shoved her toward the door and she took off running. I grabbed her helmet as I stood and sprinted after her, my rifle balanced in my left hand. I came out the door, behind roughly fifty marine and army troops, my ten remaining ODSTs mixed in with them. I followed Sánchez's helmetless head. We came up on the street that went around the entire park.

The park was actually an old asteroid impact site. The crater formed an almost perfect caldera like formation. This caldera, as the locals called it, was being used as a landing zone for drop ships lifting civilians up to the slip space capable ships in orbit. The crater rim formed a gentle slope down to street level. The crater measured almost two miles in diameter, and the park extended a mile past that. Almost the entire distance was the slope leading up to the crater rim. The secondary defenses were set up at the beginnings of the crater rim, about a hundred meters from the street.

I continued across the street and up the hill to the sandbags that had been set up to shore up the defenses. I saw Sánchez and tossed her the helmet. The rest of my team grouped around me.

"Alright people, spread out across the line, the covenant can't be very far behind us. Make ready." Peterson moved over to me as they spread out.

"Corporal, I need you to help these guys hold this line for just fifteen minutes. Then we'll have birds available for extraction. I've been called back to the HQ, so good luck kid." I nodded and he trotted over to an M-12 warthog with an M-41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun mounted on the back. He climbed into the passenger seat and saluted to me. I returned it and the vehicle lurched away, toward the crater. I turned back to the defenses and hunkered down behind the sandbags, resting my rifle on them.

At first, it seemed like the covenant hadn't followed us. Suddenly, plasma mortars started arcing over buildings. One of the enemy wraith tanks came onto the street in front of us. As soon as it did, two 102mm rockets lanced out. Both slammed into its turret and the tank detonated. Infantry were swarming down the street. I adjusted my rifle slightly. It bucked around as it fired a burst toward the oncoming enemy. The troops around me all started firing, causing an almost popcorn like sound. Plasma bolts started slamming into our cover. The Army infantrymen beside me took a round in his chest plate and collapsed to the ground. He was screaming as he clutched the wound.

"Medic!" I couldn't stop to do anything for him. I popped back up as I switched the weapon over to semi-auto. An Elite was rushing toward my position. I aimed and fired, hoping he wasn't shielded. The first round punched through its chest plate and it screamed. I fired three more times into its chest, silencing it. A pair of grunts were behind it and I placed two perfect head shots on them. I ducked back down as a salvo of rounds crashed into the sandbags, heating the already scorching hot air. I popped back up and emptied my last three rounds into a jackal toting a carbine. Only two connected, but it was enough to cripple it. The medic arrived as I reloaded.

"How bad?" his question was aimed at me.

"Just plasma." He nodded as he pulled out a bio-foam canister, using it to cover the wound. As soon as he was done, he dragged the wounded soldier back to a steadily growing pile of wounded. Two of my ODST's were already amongst them. Another's bio readings went offline, registering as KIA. I popped back up and started firing. Grunts and jackals alike collapsed under the barrage of rounds. The magazine emptied and I dropped down again.

As soon as a fresh mag was in, I popped back up to fire again. An elite major was less than ten feet away, his blue twin pronged energy sword ready to slice the first trooper it found into pieces. I flipped my weapon over to full-auto and sprayed it at the creature. Its shields held off almost the entire mag, but the last round punched through. It was less than a foot from striking distance when I yanked my pistol out of its holster on my thigh and fired a pair of slugs into the creatures head. Even though I wasn't using a standard issue 12.7mm magnum, both rounds punched through perfectly, blasting the creature's brains out the back of its head. My handgun was a 2437 remake of an old model 1911 handgun. Although the weapon was obsolete, my father had given it to me before I had enlisted, in case the covenant showed up on our planet. I slipped my pistol back into its holster as my radio crackled to life.

"Corporal, where are you? The covenant is leaving this section alone, so I'm moving my team over to you." I did a quick count of my remaining magazines as I reloaded, coming up with only five total.

"Roger that, should still be south of you sergeant. We've taken casualties here." He acknowledged as I kept up the fire. The elite had collapsed onto the sandbags. Covenant corpses littered the ground, slowly piling up. More plasma rounds slammed into the cover. My weapon emptied again, but instead of reloading, I grabbed the M7-Caseless Sub-Machinegun clipped to my hip. The weapon was held on by a magnet and a simple clip, just in case the magnet failed. I brought the weapon up and squeezed the trigger. The weapon bucked violently against my shoulder as I swept it back and forth across the charging covenant line. I dropped down to reload as the sergeant's team arrived. Two of his troopers weren't with him.

"Howdy." The sergeant seemed off.

"Casualties?!" his shoulders slumped as he dropped down to reload.

"Two KIA." I nodded and fired off another burst. An elite swordsman leapt over the sandbags and took a swing at the sergeant. He moved just fast enough to not have the blade slice through his gut, but it went clean through his leg. I spun and started firing my M7 into it. Its shields flared as the rounds pinged off. It kicked my chest and I flew onto the ground, my weapon spiraling away from my hand. The dead elite draped on the sandbags next to me had dropped its energy sword on my side of the barrier. I grabbed the weapon, but didn't activate it. The elite moved to thrust the blade into me when I activated the sword in my hand and swung forward, propping myself up to get extra reach. The blade grazed its abdomen, knocking out its shield. I yanked out my pistol and emptied the remaining five rounds into the elite's chest.

"Medic!" I quickly reloaded the weapon as I shouted that for the second time. The medic rushed over and wrapped a bandage onto the sergeant's stump. I scooped up my weapon and the sword, placing the covenant weapon in the small pack at the small of my back. Something shoved down on my body and I looked up as a Pelican glided overhead and set down near the wounded. Only twenty people or so were still up and fighting, half of them being ODSTs. Another pelican set down and its crew chief stepped out. He jogged over as I popped up and fired another burst. The chief slid up beside me.

"We can't get all of you out, but we aint getting anyone out if you don't hold this ground, got it?" I did a quick check of the troops around me. All of them were privates and specialists, making me the highest ranking trooper in the area.

"We will." The crew chief nodded and sprinted back to the bird as the medics finished loading the wounded onto it. I fired the last few rounds in the magazine and dropped back down to reload. The two pelicans lifted off and gunned it, pitching their noses almost straight up.

"Renegade one two bravo, this is wraith five two. Heard you guys got left behind." I smiled and fired another burst at the covenant. They had scattered for whatever cover they could find.

"Much appreciated five two." I could hear the pelican behind me, but I held back for a few seconds to encourage the covenant to stay put.

"Corporal, let's go!" Sánchez was shouting from a short way down the wall of sandbags. I turned and started sprinting toward the drop ship. An army trooper was sitting in the seat next to the ramp. She was strapped in and fired her rifle shortly before beckoning us toward the craft. Suddenly, a plasma mortar slammed into the right rear engine bank. I dived to the ground as the craft's tail slammed into the ground. I felt sparks and heat slam into my back as it slid over me. I looked around, wondering why I wasn't crushed. Where I had dived was a crevice in the dry rock. I somehow had managed to land in the one crack in the ground. I stood and watched as the pelican regained control.

"Renegade one two bravo, you still kickin? I can't risk another lan…" his voice was cut off as a green fuel rod shot slammed into another one of its engines and the craft dropped into the city.

I did a quick head count of the troopers still alive nearby me. An army trooper had tumbled out of the troop bay and broken his leg. Two other troopers had been under the tail when it had dropped. Both corpses were mangled beyond recognition. Beasley and Holden were here as well as Sánchez. Two ODSTs from the sergeant's team were also left behind, along with a handful of marines.

"Come on people, we can't stay here, grab him!" I sprinted off up the hill, toward the crater. The briefing mentioned that the park was littered with caves, most of them were unexplored. Within a few seconds, I almost fell in one. It looked deep enough to hide all of us and I signaled the others in. I went in last. The cave was barely wide enough to let us in, but, after five meters or so, the tunnel opened up into a small chamber. The chamber was just barely large enough to accommodate the group in relative comfort.

"So what's the plan, kid?" Beasley had a burn on his chest plate.

"We wait for the covenant to loosen up, then we make a break for the city. From there, we try to find a slip space capable ship, human or otherwise." Sánchez stepped up beside him.

"How the hell are we going to fly a covenant ship, much less a human one?" I shook my head as I responded.

"I don't know. But we are sure as hell going to try."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been an hour since we had retreated into the cave. None of us were medics, so we were stuck just giving the soldier with the broken leg morphine from our med kits. His name was Private David Ryan. I checked to see if all of my weapons were loaded, swapping the standard magazine on my M7 to one full of subsonic ammunition. I also slipped out the silencer I kept at the small of my back and screwed it on to the end of the barrel.

"Come on guys, it's now or never." They nodded, two of the marines hoisting Ryan between them. I slipped into the tunnel leading back to the surface and stopped at the mouth of the cave. It was night time, but the ODST helmet comes standard with Low light enhancement. Although not as good as night vision goggles, it gave the user a little bit better sight while in dark areas. There wasn't any covenant in the area, so I slipped out of the cave and headed toward the city, constantly shifting my aim around to check every nook and cranny that an enemy could hide in. I moved slowly enough to let the wounded trooper keep up.

We reached the city without any incidents. As soon as we got to the first set of buildings, we searched for an empty one to occupy. Sánchez found an unlocked door and beckoned us over. I stood by the door, across from Sánchez. Three others got behind me, or 'stacked up'. I nodded to her and she pressed the door switch. I stepped around the corner, instantly heading for the corner of the room on my side of the door. Sánchez would be doing the same on the other side. Those stacked up behind us would alternate between which corner they would go to. The first two in usually cleared those two corners while the others cleared the rest of the room. The room was clear, so we ushered the others inside.

"Beasley, Holden, take two with you and clear the rest of the building. Quietly. Sánchez, you got a city map?" they moved off as she pulled her map out of the Tactical soft case on her thigh. She unfolded it and handed it over. I searched the map for the city's secondary spaceports, knowing that the main one was already dust.

"There's a military base here. May not have a slip space boat, but it should still have ammo stores." She pointed at it on the map and I nodded as I continued searching.

"Looks like there is a privately owned spaceport here. I don't know if the locals had the money for a slip space capable ship, but as long as the FTL buoys are active, we should just need something with radiation shielding." FTL, or faster than light, buoys were made to accelerate civilian ships fast enough to shove their way into slip space. It was very rare to find a civilian ship with a Shaw-Fujikawa Trans light drive core on board. They tended to make for excellent bombs. The Shaw-Fujikawa drive, or slip space drive, allowed ships to 'shove' their way into slipstream space, which is technically a different dimension. It was all Latin to me so.

"What's the plan corporal?" Ryan had been propped up on a wall.

"First, we hit this base, see if we can't get more ammo, possibly heavy weapons. Then we move to this space port and see if anyone left their keys in their ride." Sánchez shook her head.

"The only two routes from that base either take us through the main port, which is the covenant landing zone, or through downtown, which is filled with covenant and debris. We'll just get pinned and killed."

"What about these sky bridges between the buildings. Are they still standing?" I hadn't even noticed Beasley return.

"Yeah but we'd be sitting ducks if they find us." I smiled as I spoke.

"So we don't let them find us. It's better than nothing so let's get going." Everyone in the group nodded and started prepping gear as I spoke.

()

Specialist Maria Carrion slowly regained consciousness, feeling a dull throb on the side of her head. She opened her eyes to find herself back in the troop bay of the pelican. All she could remember was a massive bang, along with a tremendous amount of heat.

"Hey Carrion, you ok?" her battle buddy from the engineering unit she was assigned to, Haden Bale.

"I'm not dead." He smiled and laughed, slapping her shoulder as he did so.

"Good, you got hit pretty hard by that rifle. It hit you stock first, thankfully. Would've punched a hole in that noggin of yours if it was the other way around." He smiled as he spoke.

"Why are we still on the bird?" his smile faded as he responded.

"Door's jammed. Top hatch got welded shut when the wraith got us. Might've made it back up to the ship if a fuel air wraith hadn't also nailed us. Lucky for us, flyboy over there aint half bad." He pointed at the pilot sitting on the deck, next to the door leading to the cockpit. There had been only six engineers in the pelican when they had gone to pick up Renegade 1-2. Three Army infantrymen, two Marines, and six ODSTs had gotten on before the craft was hit.

"Anyone need me?" she was trained as a combat medic.

"One of the ODSTs took a nasty hit before he got on. Says he's fine but, doesn't look so good." She unbuckled the harness and moved over to the wounded trooper. It looked like a plasma round had hit his shoulder. Burned right through the shoulder piece and taken about three millimeters of flesh off. She grabbed a clean cloth from a small pack on her waist and an alcohol bottle. She dabbed the cloth with the liquid, then shook the trooper before she tried to clean the wound, waking him up.

"Just going to clean it out and bandage it." He nodded, keeping his faceplate polarized. ODST helmets were capable of being blacked out or cleared using the polarization of the atoms. When polarized, the faceplate turned dark silver, hiding the users face, but allowing him to still see. The concept was similar to a two way mirror.

She gently cleaned the wound, cleaning out dirt, charred flesh, and bits of fused armor. His hands flexed as she worked, showing that what she was doing was hurting him. She got it clean and pulled out a clean bandage, wrapping it tightly around the wound.

"There, just try not to touch it and don't take the bandage off. It doesn't look too bad so you should be fine, just take care with it." He nodded and leaned back again, presumably to fall back asleep. "How long have I been out, Bale?" she moved back to where she was sitting as she spoke. She nearly collapsed into the seat beside him, feeling nauseous from the head hit.

"'Bout two hours." She nodded and let her head rest on his shoulder, wanting to sleep.

()

I held up a fist as I reached the corner. We had been sticking to the side streets and alleyways, trying to avoid the covenant. The center of the street in front of us was split through the center by a recent sinkhole, probably caused by fighting in the sewers. Across the sink hole, about twenty meters down the street, a crashed pelican sat, jammed into a building. A small troupe of covenant soldiers were walking to it, most likely to investigate it. The group was made up of a single elite, five or six grunts and a jackal sniper. I pointed to Beasley and Holden, then at my silenced weapon, and finally at a car leaning on the edge of the sinkhole. They nodded and I stepped around the corner, headed for the car. I silently glided up behind it, crouching at it. My fellow ODSTs were only seconds behind me.

I signaled for them to hold put at the car as I took my pack off. Inside was a climbing rope, as well as three extra magazines for my assault rifle and three days of rations. I grabbed the rope and made a simple anchor on the lip of the sink hole. As soon as it was secure, I dropped off, holding the rope with one hand so I could keep my M7 ready. I loosened my grip just enough to let me slowly creep down the rope. At the bottom, I clipped my M7 onto my side so I could climb the other wall. I slowly inched my way up, trying to move as quietly as possible. I reached the lip of the sinkhole and peeked up to see if the enemy was watching. They were all too busy investigating the pelican to care, so I slipped up onto the road.

I slipped behind a flipped car and pulled out my combat knife. There was a quiet rasp as it slid out of the sheath. The elite was the closest to me, and he was standing fully erect. If I tried to slit his throat, I wouldn't be able to reach it due to its near four meter height. There was a bench and a trash can less than a foot behind him. If I used the trashcan to get higher, I might be able to jump high enough to get the knife where it was needed. I took a deep breath, then stepped around the corner. I reached the bench in less than a second, using it as a step up onto the trash can and leapt forward, landing on the elite's back. As soon as I hit him, I slammed the knife into its throat and raked it back toward me. The jackal was the first to react to me, but was silenced by suppressed weapon fire from my teammates. All of the grunts were killed by them before the elite could collapse to the ground.

I quickly danced away from the dying creature. It clutched its throat, trying to stem the flow of blood with its raw power. One of its eyes locked with mine as it slowly died from the wound. I heard a crash behind me and I spun to find an elephant jammed into the fissure, giving my team a way to cross it. Beasley tossed me my pack and I shrugged it back on.

"Check the crash, see if anyone survived." He nodded and moved over to the pelican's rear, to check the main doors.

()

Carrion jumped when something banged on the sealed doors beside her. Her MA37 Assault rifle shot up out of pure instinct, aiming at the small window in it. One of the ODSTs moved over to it and peeked out. They all had taken their helmets off to try and relax a little. He smiled as he saw something out side. He pointed at the small access hatch on the top of the craft. He spun and leaned against the door.

"ODST, looks like someone found us." Suddenly, there was another knock. The trooper bounced off the wall and he pressed his ear to the window. His expression grew grim as a faint mumbling echoed through the cabin. "Everyone, get back from the hatch, they gotta blow it. Also grab all of your gear and get ready to move!" she grabbed her helmet and put it on, securing the strap under her chin. The bird's pilot waved everyone to the cockpit. There was a short passage between the bay and the cockpit. This passage was merely meant to act as airlock between the bay and the cockpit. All told, the cockpit and foyer could hold maybe seven people. There were seventeen soldiers crammed into the bay, meaning that at least ten people had to stay in the bay. There were six ODSTs, who had the best chance of surviving the blast. Meaning four normal troopers had to stay in the bay.

"I'll stay in the bay." Her battle buddy instantly spoke up when she did.

"Me too" one of the marines stepped forward.

"Us marines aint lettin you all have the fun. I'll stay too." his buddy stepped forward, simply standing with Carrion and the others.

"Well that was easy, didn't even have to ask. ODSTs, you have the best armor so see if you can arrange it to have you guys closer to the hatch." One of the ODSTs shoved pilot toward the cockpit.

"Come on we do know what we're doing, get in there!" his faceplate wasn't polarized letting everyone see the massive grin on his dark skin. They all crowded to the back of the bird, Carrion taking up the spot closest to the window. The other three none-ODSTs swarmed around her. The ODSTs tried to make a living wall between her and the hatch. There was a knock on the hull again and she glanced out the window. An ODST was standing just outside. She gave him a thumbs up. Less than two seconds later, there was a loud whump as explosives went off on top of the hull. They backed away from the door. Black armored feet and legs appeared in the smoking hatch. The ODST dropped down, landing in a crouch.

()

My radio cackled to life with Beasley's voice.

"Corporal, we got survivors on board. Rear door is jammed on rubble. They keep pointing at the access hatch on top." I jogged over to the side of the hull.

"Holden! Get your ass over here and give me a boost up!" he jogged over and crouched slightly, making a makeshift step with his hands. I put a foot into his hands and he shoved me upwards. I grabbed the edge of the pelican and lifted myself the rest of the way up.

"You know Wander, you need to lose a few." I rolled my eyes as I moved toward the center of the craft. I crouched at the access hatch and frowned. Plasma rounds had welded the hatch to the hull.

"Holden! Still got those thermite cords?" I moved back to the edge of the pelican as I spoke.

"Yeah, how many do you need?"

"Five. Detonator too. Beasley, warn the survivors." Holden tossed me the cords and detonator one at a time. Thermite burned hotter than the devil himself, allowing it to burn through just about anything. I bent each into an arc, following the curve of the hatch. The last two overlapped a little but it shouldn't cause any trouble. I plugged the remote trigger in to one of the cords and checked that the detonator was receiving a signal.

"Beasley, I'm ready to go up here!" he was silent for a few seconds before he spoke.

"Good to go!"

"Alright, I'm going to drop down after this goes off and help them out. We gotta move fast." I got reports announcing everyone as ready as I slid down the front of the craft, grabbing onto a hole in the hull. My breath rattled slightly as I squeezed the trigger on the detonator and slammed the top of it against the pelican. There was a loud whump as the thermite lit. I heaved on the hull, pulling myself back on top of the bird. The hatch was just a smoking hole on the top of the craft. The edge was still boiling hot, so I pulled out my canteen and dumped it on the hot metal. The metal screamed as it flash cooled. I dropped down, grabbing the still hot metal.

The rungs had melted in the blast, so I dropped down to the deck, letting my legs collapse beneath me. I stood and looked around. There were six ODSTs in the bay, along with two army troopers and two marines. Four of the six ODSTs were from my squad.

"Shit guys, didn't think I would see you again." one of the ODSTs stepped forward, letting his visor depolarize.

"Well, aint this world all screwy. Good to see ya corporal." Lance corporal Benjamin Cole. He had been on the sergeant's team. I crouched and created a step with my hands.

"Come on, we don't have time to catch up." he stepped up as the door to the cockpit opened. I hoisted him high enough for the soldiers up top to be able to grab him. Another ODST stepped up beside me. His shoulder had been hit by a plasma round, but he helped me lift each of the soldiers up. His HUD tag said he was specialist K. Reynolds. His name was familiar, but I didn't meet him. Within a minute, we were down to one other person in the bay. She was an Army medic, and she seemed to be swaying slightly.

"Come on, we don't got all day!" she took a step forward and collapsed to the floor. I darted over and lifted her up. "Hey, you okay?" she shook her head slightly. That small movement seemed to hurt her.

"She got hit in the head by a rifle when the wraith nailed us." I nodded and signaled for him to turn around. I opened his pack and grabbed his climbing rope. I quickly tied it around her waist.

"Alright, I'm going to lift you up, take the other end of the rope up with you. Once up there, hoist her up." he nodded and I got ready to lift him. He seemed heavier than anyone else on the bird but I still was able to lift him up. I moved the army trooper over to the hatch and they hoisted her up.

I jumped up, grabbing onto the lip created by the second hatch. I hauled myself as high as I could. A hand reached down and I grabbed onto it. The soldier hauled me up. As soon as I was standing, I ran and took a leap of the hull. I hit the ground and rolled to my feet. The other ODST did the same, only faster somehow. The rest of the soldiers were running for a building. Sánchez was at the door, beckoning everyone inside. I shot through the doorway and slid to a stop. Sánchez rolled around the corner and sealed the door. I counted heads, ending up with twenty eight soldiers. And more importantly, a pilot.

"Pilot, can you fly a slip space capable ship?" he nodded.

"Yeah, but I'll need some extra hands or an AI. No offense but you groundies tend not have the….. Coordination." I nodded as I thought.

"What about the city's super intendant? Should be smart enough for it. By the way, name?"

"Lieutenant Carson. Yeah it could, but doesn't the Cole protocol mean that it's destroyed?"

"Maybe not, the Cole protocol mainly focuses on navigation data and weapons research and development. Super intendants tend to only have Nav data. May have only deleted that data, not itself." The Cole Protocol was set up to protect Earth and the other central colonies, such as Reach.

"Worth a shot, Sergeant?"

"Corporal. Wander." He nodded and I turned to the soldiers. "For those of you who don't know, we are on our way to a small Army supply depot. After that, we are heading into the city to recover the super intendant, if it's still active. Then we are moving on to a small spaceport. With any luck, there will be a ship there that can jump to slip space. Take five mikes to get ready to move." I dropped my pack and grabbed the assault rifle magazines, stuffing all three in one of my empty pouches. I moved to sling the pack back on, but Sánchez stopped me.

"Your rope." She smiled as she handed me the coiled rope. I nodded and stuffed it in my pack. I stood as I slung the pack back onto my back. My chest was suddenly throbbing violently every time I took a breath. Probably cracked or broken ribs from the elite kick to the chest. I took short shallow breaths to try to lessen the sharp pains.

"Who has advanced recon skills and knows this city?" my own voice startled me as I spoke. Sánchez put her hand up and one of the army troopers from the pelican did as well.

"Sir, I may be an engineer, but I grew up in this city and I was an ODST for two years. I switched to the army to be closer to family." His IFF tag read as Private H. Bale.

"Sánchez, what about you?"

"I was also born here. Got stuck working with some ONI guys to deal with some insurgents two years ago." ONI (or Office of Naval Intelligence) did a lot of secret operations, and would sometimes hijack other military units to get what they wanted.

"Alright, I want you two to scout ahead. Everyone else, cover the wounded." I walked over to the two severely wounded troopers. Ryan had somehow obtained a makeshift crutch. The medic's eyes were closed and her face was contorted in pain. "Hey, how you feeling?" her eyes opened as she spoke.

"Feel like someone tried to split my head open." Her voice sounded strained.

"You got hit in the head with a rifle. I'd say that something did try. Come on, we gotta move." She stared at my faceplate, a look of complete confusion on her face. "Ryan, how ya feelin?"

"I'm moving, if that counts." I nodded and moved over by one of the doors. Sánchez and Bale moved over beside me, without me even having to speak.

"Get going, we'll follow you. Sánchez, you're in charge. Move!" they opened the door and jogged out. I waited one minute more, letting them get a head start, then led the group out the door and into the narrow streets of the city.


	3. Chapter 3

We had left the city and were now in the suburban neighborhood that sprung up around the small army base. Luggage and personal items were scattered in the streets, as well as the corpses of civilians. I stopped at the corpse of a small child, no more than ten or twelve. She had been killed by an energy sword. Her corpse was still clutching a stuffed bear, probably from her childhood. Rage took hold of my body and I stood, hoping that I would meet the bastard that had killed the girl.

"Corporal Wander! We have contact with an armored column headed your way. There was a three way intersection that would be perfect for ambushing them just ahead of you." I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"What can you tell me about it?" her voice came back through at a whisper.

"Two Wraith tanks, about fifty feet apart, and about a company of infantry. Three elite majors, eight minors, one zealot and a shit load of grunts and jackals." I nodded and switched to our other channel.

"Alright people, we have a convoy to ambush, there's a three way intersection ahead that we will hit it at, got it?" I heard some confirmations over the radio and I continued. "Anyone got heavy ordnance on em?"

"This is bale. I got engineering charges on me. Makes C7 look like a joke."

"This is Holden, I got two lotuses in my pack." We reached the intersection as I spoke.

"Ok, Sánchez and bale get back here and help Holden set up the charges. Beasley and Reynolds, get up on that roof over there, use your DMR's to pick off enemy troops." The M392 Designated Marksmen Rifle, or DMR, was a hybrid weapon between a sniper rifle and an assault rifle, giving the user more flexibility than a sniper rifle, and better accuracy, range, and punch than an assault rifle, but at the cost of less ammunition in its magazines. The two of them darted off to the house, entering its back yard. "Everyone else, hunker down where ever you can!"

I jogged over to one of the buildings and the door opened for me. There was a bay window that someone had smashed in at some point that had a decent view of the street. Sánchez and Bale came sprinting down the street as Holden set up his mines. Bale slid to a stop and started placing his charges. The female medic slipped into the room and crouched next to me.

"Corporal." She nodded to me as she spoke. Her IFF tag read as specialist Carrion.

"Carrion, get back, I don't need a concussed trooper fighting." She shook her head, the movement was obviously painful.

"No way corporal. This was my home, I'm killing some of these bastards." The defiant gaze in her eyes brought up flashbacks of a girl I had known. Images of long blonde hair flooded my mind. I blinked and Carrions deep brown eyes returned to my vision. She had the same determination I had known so well.

"No, Carrion, stay out of it." she popped her rifle up and rested it on the window sill.

"I'm staying and that's final." She glared at me, the look half lost to the eyepiece covering her right eye.

"You drive a hard bargain. Fine, but you keep your damn head down." She smiled and the glare vanished.

"Only with guys who are vulnerable to feminine wiles." I depolarized my faceplate as I spoke glaring at her.

"I aint vulnerable. Besides, why the hell would I be attracted to you?" she glanced at me and glared back. Bewildered thoughts shot through my mind.

"Come on, back in the building? Or on the pelican, you never took your eyes off me." Bale and Sánchez stepped in as I spoke.

"Really? How would you know? Not like you could see my face." She rolled her eyes but Bale cut her off before she could speak.

"Um, what the hell is going on?" I turned and spoke before the medic could.

"Just a naïve girl who thinks she manipulative. Now get the hell back." Sánchez and Bale flanked the two of us as Sánchez spoke.

"She's got as much reason as us to fight. Let her, trust us, we need the extra gun." I shook my head and polarized my visor. The two of them settled in, waiting for the enemy to show up.

()

Carrion shook her head as the soldiers around her finished their argument. Why had she practically tried to flirt with him? She hadn't even known what he looked like till now. Had to have something to do with the concussion. She checked the ammo counter on her rifle. The weapon still had eleven rounds in it. The first wraith came into view, trying to maneuver around the destroyed vehicles. Its purple chassis floated almost two feet off the ground its gunner was leaning casually against the plasma cannon. The main gun was currently hidden in its housing. Infantry skittered around the debris, following the tanks at a fast marching pace.

The second tank came around a wrecked car, following the same path as its brother. Suddenly, the entire area rocked as all of the charges went off. The first tank was barely caught in one of the mine blasts, flipping the tank over. The second tank was hovering over the other mine when it went off. A massive blue fireball blasted into the air as the tank was blown into small chunks. The engineering charges ripped most of the infantry to shreds, leaving maybe a platoon and half of enemy soldiers. The shock waves from the explosives sent her head spinning.

She aimed and fired her rifle. The shot went wide off the grunt she fired at, but the round clipped a jackal's leg. The creature screamed and fired its type-25 Directed Energy Pistol at her. Its green glob of plasma hit the edge of the roof. The ODST beside her shot both the grunt she had been aiming for and the jackal that had fired at her. She shifted her aim to another grunt. This time, she jerked the trigger twice. The first round went wide again, but the second slammed into the grunt's face. The creature collapsed to the ground.

She did a quick scan of what was going on around her. White smoke trails marked where the two marksmen shots had passed through. Some ODST's had access to a special thermite round. Although the round was the same caliber as the MA5's and the MA37's, the standard full metal jacket on the rounds was replaced with thermite. It did weaken the kinetic force behind the rounds, but the shear heat from the thermite gave it incredible armor piercing and shield penetration. Grunts and jackals alike scrambled for cover from one source or another, but would get killed from another angle. This was sending the smaller creatures into a panic. The elites that were still alive were shouting orders, trying to regain control of their soldiers.

An elite major aimed its Type-51 Directed energy Rifle/Improved at her position. The weapon acted almost as an assault rifle for the covenant. The elite started firing the weapon and its blue bolts slammed into the building. She shifted her aim and started firing single shots at it, trying to stay stable enough to hit the creature. Her first two shots missed, but the third connected, glancing off its shielding. A pair of phosphorus rounds slammed into its head. Its shields stopped both rounds, but the timing of the rounds over loaded the shield. She kept firing, empting her weapon into the now unshielded creature. All three of her rounds connected.

()

The medic beside me reloaded her weapon. She seemed to be unable to hit anything, even at these short ranges. I couldn't tell if it was from the concussion or not though. The elite zealot had survived the blasts. It had hunkered down behind the first tank, hiding from the two marksmen. The spot it had chosen gave me a clear shot on it. I aimed my MA5C at it, checking the ammo counter at the same time. I hoped the seventeen rounds I had left would kill it. I squeezed the trigger and the weapon bucked. I had left the weapon in semi-auto to see if it still had shielding. The round pinged off and I cursed. It saw me and fired its T-51 DER/I at me. The plasma repeater started launching plasma at us and I ducked down. As the repeater shots slowed down, I grabbed a grenade off of my belt and depressed the button.

I popped up and threw the grenade, landing it right beside the elite. The grenade detonated, sending the elite flying through the air. Amazingly enough, the creature's shield was still on, having protected it from the blast. I rapidly pulsed the trigger on my rifle, not even bothering to count how many shots I had fired. The elite's shield flared and died under the short salvo. My last two rounds punched through its helmet and killed the creature.

I reloaded my rifle, watching as the last few grunts and jackals were cut down.

"Anyone hit?" I spoke calmly into the radio. Everyone reported in as negative and I continued. "Ok, grab whatever weapons you can use and carry, we move in two." I darted out and grabbed the plasma repeater off the dead zealot. I slung my rifle and carried it as my primary. Those around me grabbed plasma rifles and covenant carbines off the dead creatures. Some even grabbed plasma grenades.

"Alright let's get moving!" I moved at a fast trot, the pain in my chest intensifying with every breath.


	4. Chapter 4

The closer we got to the army base, the fewer civilian corpses we encountered. But, as there were fewer civvies, more covenant corpses joined them. I stopped at a disabled elephant that had been converted into a trash truck. My chest seemed to burn with every breath, and even though I could normally keep the pace we were moving at for days, my breath came in ragged gasps. The army medic stopped beside me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you okay corporal? You don't look so good." I nodded and depolarized my visor.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just winded." She fingered the cracks on my chest piece before she spoke.

"The amount of force it would take to crack this plate, you got to have cracked ribs at the least." She dropped her hand as she spoke. I stared into her eyes, seeing the small amount of concern behind them. Or she was just trying to do her job.

"I'm fine, specialist. Really." I polarized my visor and got moving again. She trotted up next to me, almost like a puppy. My radio crackled to life with Sánchez's voice

"We found the base, did a quick sweep, looks clear corporal."

"Hooyah, we're less than five out." She acknowledged as I turned my radio off. "What do you want Carrion?" she shrugged slightly as she walked beside me.

"To do my job. You're injured." I glared at her, knowing the look was lost behind the visor.

"Again, I'm fine, trust me. I've been through worse." She rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. I kept walking, acting like she wasn't even there. The base came into view within minutes. A dense fog was blocking almost all sight past a couple hundred meters. The base had high walls around it, with four gun towers marking each corner. Not a bad defensive position, considering it was just a supply depot. I switched my radio back on as I spoke.

"Sánchez, we got the base in sight. Get the doors for us." I kept up my steady trot as the doors in front of me slowly opened. I passed through the gate and glanced around. On my right were two large warehouses connected by a small one story bunker. The warehouses themselves were built like bunkers. Dead ahead was a vehicle hanger, built in the same fashion. On my left were the barracks and headquarters building.

"Welcome over Corporal." Sánchez trotted out of a small two man watch house next to the gate.

"Carrion, take Ryan and two others into the HQ, set up a med station. Everyone else, spread out and search these buildings for weapons, ammo, vehicles, med supplies, whatever you can find." The soldiers did as I said and I moved off into the closer of the two warehouses. The first crate I spotted was scrapped up to the point that the letters on it were unreadable. I opened the crate and found slender cylinders with bulbous ends. I quickly recognized the rifle flares. The flares were meant to be launched by standard rifles loaded with blanks. The heat from the blank round would ignite the slow burn rocket inside of the flare. A unique trait of the weapon is that if you fired it off with a live round, it would act more as a timed 60 millimeter rifle grenade.

"Hey wander. We found a pelican in the vehicle hanger. It's pretty banged up but flyboy thinks he can fix it." Beasley sounded exhausted over the radio.

"What's its condition?" the pilot's voice responded.

"First, it is unarmed. But its cabin has been extended so we can all fit in it. I need to finish fixing her port fore engine, attach it back on, then fix some electronics. I can fly her after that but, I may need a copilot."

"well, I can fly a pelican, but did you say the engine is not even on it?" his voice came back almost instantly."

"Hooyah corporal. But it shouldn't take more than a few hours to fix it."

"Do it." Beasley's voice came back on.

"Dan, where did you learn to fly? And why haven't you told us before?" memories flashed through my mind as I spoke.

"My dad was an Air force Colonel back on Actium. He taught me and my friend to fly everything under his command. Falcons, Hornets, Long swords, Pelican's. He even had a couple of Hawks. Well, only in simulations, 'cept when we stole a pelican." I turned off my radio and ventured deeper into the building. I quickly found a box labeled as 7.62x51FMJ/MA5C. I opened the crate and found magazines filling one side, rounds filling the other. I sighed and started loading the magazines to stuff into my pack and pouches.

()

Carrion trotted across the courtyard to the bunker between the two warehouses, intending to find Wander and deal with his injuries. She walked in and she saw him leaning up against the back wall. His chest rose and fell at a steady rate, definitely sound asleep. One of his fellow ODST's sat up against the firing window, helmet off and awake.

"Hello." He jolted slightly at the sound of her voice.

"Hey. Come stay awhile, Ms.?

"Maria, Carrion." He smiled as she sat down next to him. He stuck out his hand as he spoke.

"Damien Beasley." She returned the smile as she shook his hand.

"How's the Corporal?" he chuckled slightly before he spoke.

"He's fine. They beat the shit out of him in drop school. Broke four ribs, dislocated his hand and shoulder. Shit ton of severe bruises. That didn't even slow him so some cracked ribs is nothing." She took a second look at the sleeping soldier with a lot more respect for him than before.

"What do you know about him? He doesn't seem like the rest of you ODSTs." He shook his head as he responded.

"He's just been in combat before. The rest of the fire team hadn't. Just has more experience than us. I've heard that he was on the ground when Actium fell. Had to fight his way out. Before he was even military." Wander suddenly started shaking slightly in his sleep, as if he was restless, or scared. She glanced at Beasley, silently asking him what was going on.

"Nightmares. First night of Drop school, he woke up screaming. Far as I can tell, he has at least one every time he sleeps. He won't admit it though."

()

_ I smiled up at the stars, enjoying the still warm sand against my wet skin._

_ "It's a beautiful night." I looked over at Mikayla lying next to me on the beach. Her green eyes were fixed on the sky above us, a gentle smile on her face._

_ "Yes it is." She looked back into my eyes, her smile widening._

_ "Dan, I think we should probably get back. It's been five hours and I'm sure your dad aint to happy about that." She rolled toward me, propping herself up on one of her elbows as she jerked her thumb at the stolen Pelican._

_ "Ok, one condition then" I rolled onto my side, mimicking her position, our faces mere inches apart._

_ "And what's that?" her voice sounded as soft as the spring breeze._

_ "Whoever reaches the cockpit first, flies." I shot up, sprinting for the craft. She shot to her feet behind me cursing at me. My feet pounded onto the metal plating and I started tugging my pants and shirt on over my swim trunks. I was strapping into the pilots seat as she got on board. She dropped into the copilot's seat behind me as she spoke._

_ "You're an ass sometimes, you know that?" I grinned at her as I spoke._

_ "Yup. I'm taking the canyon." Her eyes widened as I spoke._

_ "Are you nuts? Professional stunt pilots DIE in that canyon. What chance does a sixteen year old boy have?" I powered up the engines and grabbed the two handles in front of me._

_ "I'm sure we'll be fine." I slammed my feet down on the pedals beneath me and the craft rose into the air. The two pedals controlled vertical thrust on either side of the craft. If you weren't careful with it, you had the potential of flipping the aircraft. The two handles controlled the pitch of the engine banks and the forward thrust of each side of the aircraft. So if you shoved one handle in, but not the other, the craft would spin._

"Dan! Wake up! The covenant are all over the place!" I jerked awake as a trio of plasma bolts shot into the room, slamming into the wall less than a meter above me. I scooped up the plasma repeater from beside me and darted to the window. The covenant had blown a hole in the gate and were flooding through it. I aimed the covenant weapon at the hole and fired it. The blue bolts splashed around the hole and hit grunts as they charged through. An elite was caught in the salvo, but his shields saved him. The weapon suddenly split apart to try and cool down. I tossed the weapon out of the building and grabbed my rifle off my back.

"We got Phantoms in bound!" that sounded like Reynolds voice. I glanced up as one of the craft lowered down into the courtyard. The side doors were open and they had plasma cannons set up in them. I aimed and fired without even thinking, killing the grunt manning the turret. I shifted my rifle over slightly and rapidly pulsed the trigger, watching the bullets tear through grunts and jackals as they scrambled to leap out of the drop ship. Each bullet tore through two or three enemies, usually crippling them. My magazine emptied and I swapped it for a fresh one as the drop ship lifted away.

"This is Private Jones, we're runnin low in the HQ. Anyone got rounds?

"I got a couple thousand 7.62x51FMJ, but they're loose, no mags. Gimme some cover and I'll run em over." I turned my radio back on as I spoke.

"Alright, everyone, covering fire, lay down enough lead to make these freaks wish they were dead." I flicked my weapon over to full auto and aimed at a cluster of grunts. I squeezed the trigger and the weapon bucked around as the rounds arced out to the group. The grunts scattered as their comrades collapsed under the salvo. The marine sprinted out of the warehouse beside us, the massive ammo crate cradled in his arms.

Suddenly, a section of the wall collapsed as a massive purple leg smashed through. The rest of the wall collapsed, swathing the area in a thick cloud of dust.

()

Carrion coughed as dust from the wall filled her lungs. The dust started to settle to reveal the outline of the scarab as it marched into the courtyard. The first variant of the scarab that was encountered by the UNSC was what is now known as the scarab V2, or assault scarab. The V2 was built primarily for combat. It was renamed the scarab V2 after the UNSC encountered the larger Scarab V1, or super scarab. After examining debris from the super scarabs, it was found that they were actually modified mining vehicles. The scarab looming before her was, luckily, an assault scarab. Not that it made much of a difference.

The marine that had been running ammo stumbled to his feet. The scarab's head aimed at him and fired. The marine instantly disappeared under the bright beam of energy.

"Carrion, Beasley, did either of you get a plasma grenade earlier?" Wander's voice seemed incredibly calm. Beasley pulled one of the covenant grenades out of a pouch on his belt. Wander took the grenade and ran into the warehouse. Carrion followed him in as he slid to a stop beside an open crate. He grabbed what looked like a grenade with a long shaft sticking out of it and removed the shaft. He tossed the grenade aside as he spoke again.

"Rope." Carrion opened his pack and grabbed his climbing rope out. He wrapped the rope around the flat end were the grenade had been.

"Got a plasma pistol by any chance?" She pulled the small weapon out from where she had tucked it in her belt.

"Yeah here." He didn't reach for it. Instead, he held the rope firmly where it was and moved the rod away from him.

"Shoot the top of it. But first, twist the nob on top all the way to the left." She looked at the weapon, looking for the nob.

"Where is it?" he shook his head as he yelled.

"It's the fucking hologram! Now twist it left and shoot the damn thing!" she did as he said and the weapon discharged. Oddly, the plasma seemed far less bright as normal. Instead of vaporizing the rope, like she thought it would, it merely flash welded it to the rod. He dropped the hot object to the floor, grabbing what looked like a blank round from the crate. He manually loaded the round into his rifle, then slipped a full magazine into the receiver.

"Beasley, let's move! You too Carrion." He grabbed the rod and rammed it down the rifle's barrel, then slung the weapon. His knife slipped out of it's sheathe and he wedged the blade into the plasma grenade as he ran. The trigger mechanism popped up and he pulled a cluster of five small cylinders out of the grenade, tossing them aside. He flipped the trigger back in place as he ran out the door, headed straight for the scarab.

"Dan, what the hell are you doing!" he didn't respond as he unslung his weapon and activated the grenade. He slammed the grenade onto the end of the rod, aimed at the scarab and fired. She watched as it shot upward, arcing down slightly. The plasma stuck to the roof of the bottom level of the scarab. He grabbed onto the rope and started climbing after the live grenade. Beasley quickly followed and she grabbed on, wondering why the grenade hadn't gone off yet. She heard a blast and her heart leapt into her throat. She looked up to find she was still dangling from the hull and climbed higher. A hand reached down and she grabbed it. He hauled her up and she found herself staring at Beasley's faceplate.

"Alright, Beasley, help Carrion clear out the rest of the covies on this thing, then come back here. Carrion, go to the top of the vehicle, to the front of the A-A gun. There is a door at the base that I'm going to open. You kill the gunner and climb in. move." Beasley ran up the ramp leading to the upper decks. She followed behind him and he signaled for her to go left. They reached the top and they split, heading different directions to the back of the vehicle. There was a grunt manning a plasma turret on the side and she fired a burst into it. She came around the back corner at the same time as Beasley. They nodded to each other, then sprinted back the way they came.

()

I frantically pressed the familiar holographic runes in front of me, typing in commands to the IFF system. Beasley trotted into the cockpit as he spoke.

"Dan, what the hell are you doing? You can't hijack a scarab. They're controlled by those things that make up hunters." I shook my head, smiling.

"They're called Lekgolo. And you can't control the scarab. But you can control the IFF. You swap friendlies to foes and foes to friendly and you have one hijacked scarab." I punched in a few more commands and the scarab stopped firing as it turned around. The gun suddenly opened fire again and I typed in the commands to open the anti-air gun's door. My radio crackled to life a few seconds later.

"I'm in! Now to figure out this damn thing!" Carrion sounded almost shocked over the radio. I punched in a last set of commands, bringing up a camera view outside the front of the vehicle. It showed two phantoms headed toward the scarab. The main canon fired on one as the AA gun took out the other.

"See, piece of cake." Beasley depolarized his visor as he spoke.

"How the hell did you know how to do that?" I flicked my radio on as I spoke.

"Long story. Carson, how's the pelican going?" it took him a few seconds to respond.

"Um, give me two minutes and she's flyable. Twenty to put her armor back on." I nodded as I spoke.

"She has to go naked, sorry, it won't be long before they send something to kill the scarab. Hooyah?" he chanted the phrase back and I turned the radio back off. Phantom after phantom blew to pieces under the scarab's onslaught. After the fifth phantom detonated, the nose of a covenant corvette peeked around the buildings that marked downtown.

"Carson, speed it the hell up, we just lost our time." He acknowledged as I set the corvette as a target. I then overrode the safeties that kept the main gun from firing for more than a few seconds. Large globs of burning plasma shot out from the ship, slamming into the walls and buildings. One of the rounds hit one of the rear legs, and both collapsed to the ground.

"Carrion, get out of the turret, now!" I turned and jumped out of the scarab, falling a good five meters. Beasley landed beside me and I spun to wait for carrion. She stopped at the ledge at the back of the scarab and glanced behind her. She was suddenly blasted forward as one of the ship's shots hit the opening for the ramp. She tumbled through the air and slammed onto the ground. I sprinted over to her still form, fearing the worst. My HUD read her vitals. They were strong, so she was probably just out cold. I grabbed her arm and slung it over my shoulder, half dragging her into the vehicle bay.

The pelican's engines were already alight and I climbed into the bay of the pelican and strapped her into a seat, then slipped into the seat at the very end of the pelican, strapping myself in. A group of grunts led by an elite entered the hanger and I emptied my rifle at them as the Pelicans doors sealed. The craft lifted up out of the hanger and darted off, headed away from the corvette. I watched as the corvette detonated, just seconds before the scarab's reactor overloaded and detonated.


	5. Chapter 5

Skyscrapers slowly drifted by in the viewport as the pilot made his way through the city, trying to find a super intendant access point. Carrion hadn't woken up yet, and Holden had taken a glancing shot to his thigh. A few others had suffered more severe injuries, forcing us to improvise. Speaking of improvisation, the pilot had rigged an M-41 into the rear of the hold as a makeshift turret.

"Hey, lieutenant, find anything yet?" his voice crackled back through the intercom.

"Negative. All the ones on this map are blocked by covies or buried under rubble." I cursed under my breath as he spoke.

"Well, keep looking. Out."

"Rodger that, out." My hands met my faceplate as my head drooped over. Everyone in the bay was suddenly knocked off balance as the pelican accelerated.

"We have contacts, two light banshees at seven o' clock!" I jumped out of my seat, grabbing onto the chain gun. I was already rigged into a harness hooked up above it. The bay door opened, revealing the two purple specs quickly approaching us. There were three known classes of banshee, the fastest in atmosphere and the most common was the light banshee. It was armed with twin plasma cannons and a non-seeking fuel rod gun. It also had an engine on the tip of each wing, giving the small craft even more speed. The assault banshee was the next step up. This variant had more powerful cannons, and its fuel rod shots could track its targets. But it didn't have the extra engines. The final variant had the same frame as the assault banshee but was rigged for space combat, including amped up cannons and two outboard engines, much like the light banshee.

The two craft entered weapon range and I depressed both triggers on the M-41. One trigger controlled the electronic system that rotated the barrels, the other fired the weapon. White tracers lanced out and slammed into one of the fighters. The craft shredded under the sheer number of rounds, blasting apart when the core destabilized. The other fighter pulled off, dropping far enough back that my gun wouldn't have the accuracy to be effective. I stopped firing the gun as it did so, keeping the weapon spun up so that I could quickly take him out.

The pelican lurched as it suddenly turned, racing for downtown's tight buildings. The tighter buildings and constant turns would force the banshee to have to come within gun range to track us. Otherwise, we would disappear amongst the buildings. We made another sharp turn as the banshee rounded the first. Every time we would turn the banshee would come around the corner just seconds before we would disappear from its sights, never leaving enough time to put fire on it. This pattern kept up for what seemed like hours before the banshee suddenly rounded the corner with four assault banshees backing it. I started franticly firing the gun, watching two of the craft explode under the torrent of rounds.

Suddenly, there was an explosion, sending the pelican into a flat spin. There was an almighty crunch and everything went black.

I felt an intense throb across my entire body as I slowly regained conciseness. The pain in my chest felt even worse than before. There was a flash in my vision and I heard what sounded like an electrical spark or something. I opened my eyes and groaned as I slowly unbuckled the straps for the harness. I lifted myself off the deck and glanced around the cabin. No one else was moving. Suddenly, carrion stirred awake and groaned. I moved over to her as I spoke.

"You OK?" she nodded and tried to move, letting out a sharp whimper as she did so.

"No, I'm not. What happened?" I reached back and grabbed a morphine syringe, uncovering the needle on it.

"You got blasted off the scarab by the corvette. Then we got shot down. Here." I opened the medication port on her armor and jabbed the needle in. the medicine emptied from the syringe and I pulled it out, tossing it aside. She relaxed, waiting for the pain killer to kick in before she moved.

"Thanks, corporal." I nodded and shook the soldier beside her. His eyes opened and stared blankly at my faceplate.

"Come on, we gotta move. He nodded and shook his head, trying to wake up a little more. I crossed the bay to Beasley and shook him awake. He was awake almost instantly.

"Get everyone on their feet, I'm going to go check up on the pilot." He nodded and I stumbled my way across the crooked deck to the foyer. The door slid open and I stepped in, practically walking on the wall instead of the floor. The pilot was slumped over in his seat. My HUD was still down from the impact and I couldn't tell if he was alive or not.

"Carson, you alive?" I shook him as I spoke. He rolled over and quickly snapped up.

"I'm sorry man, I screwed us all." I unclasped his harness and pulled him out of his seat.

"No, you did just fine lieutenant. Were alive, that's what counts. Now come on, we gotta move." He shook off the effects of the crash and scooped up his MA5K. I walked back into the bay to find almost everyone awake, and carrion was up and tending to any wounds. I did a quick head count and came up three short.

"Hey wander, what's the plan?"

"Find out where we are, assess causality's, and keep moving. You should already know that." Holden limped over and spoke before Beasley could again.

"We took four losses in that fight. Three marines and an army rifleman. All KIA by the scarab. Three wounded, myself included. Everyone else has minor scrapes and burns. Krenick there toke a couple of carbine rounds. Radiation sickness is already kickin in. Doc can't do much." He pointed at the marine lying on the deck. Carrion had slipped up while he was speaking, instantly talking.

"I'm not a doctor, so don't call me Doc. And I know where we are. It's called Wang Tower. It was built as a self-contained unit with restaurants, homes, clubs, schools, a whole town in just one building, for the richest people in this city. I used to live here." I nodded as I finally spoke.

"Let's get out and see where we are in the tower. Let's move people." The last statement I spoke considerably louder, to make sure everyone heard me. I stepped out of the pelican, raising my rifle and scanning the entire area. There was a channel leading two floors higher from where the pelican had crashed through. The stone tiles I had stepped out on were all hand carved, as well as the intricately carved wood paneling over the walls. When I spun back to look at the pelican, I realized that the nose was sitting inside an elevator shaft completely blocking it off.

"Hey, I know this place. This is Riley's penthouse." I depolarized my visor as I raised my eyebrow at her.

"And that is?" she blushed as she continued.

"Oh um, I dated him for a while. Came down here a lot." An army trooper who seemed to be following her like a lost puppy muttered under his breath about something that sounded like 'chance'.

"Hey, trooper, what did you say." He suddenly froze as I spoke.

"Um, just didn't know that about my battle buddy." I rolled my eyes and looked back at carrion.

"So how do we get out of here?" she frowned for a second, lost in thought.

"Well, the sky road isn't connected to this building. Pompous asses didn't want normal traffic here. So we gotta head for the ground. Now there are five elevator shafts, four 'family shafts', and one main. The main one is a giant glass elevator that runs through the main clubhouse. Never used it but I know where we are and I know where it is. We smashed one of the family shafts with the pelican." I polarized my visor as I spoke.

"Ok, give directions to Sánchez, she and, damn what's his name again?" the army trooper who had muttered earlier spoke up.

"Bale, my name is bale."

"Yeah, bale, will take point. Carrion stay with the wounded in the center. Beasley, we have rear guard. Everyone else, fill in the gap, Hooyah?" the entire group chanted the phrase back as my HUD suddenly flared to life. I smirked at the timing and signaled everyone to move out.

()

Carrion relaxed as she walked along with the wounded, glancing down the hallways on either side of her. She stopped as she looked down one of the hallways, recognizing the bedroom at the end of it. The door had been left open by whoever had left it. She walked down the hallway and stepped in, taking in all of the clothes scattered around the room, as well as various items. She caught a hint of glass off of something buried in some of the clothes. She scooped it up, instantly recognizing the image in the small frame. It was an old style printed photo of her from her first date with riley. He had taken her to a beach house with his family. The two of them had been simply lying on a bench, asleep, when his mom had taken the photo.

She smiled slightly as she flipped the frame over. A frown crossed her face as she saw the two envelopes taped to the back of the frame. She recognized the first as a letter she used to break up with him over two years prior. The other had never been sealed. She opened it and started reading the hand written text. Tears quickly started streaming down her face.

_Maria, I'm sorry. I never should've cheated on you. You were the most wonderful girl I've ever met, even to this day. I should've written this sooner but, I couldn't find the words to say it. Not a single day goes by that I don't regret what I did to you. I know how badly I hurt you, and if could take it away, I would, no matter what it cost me. I hope you wri…_

The letter was dated as that day. Tears flooded out of her eyes as she prayed he had made it out of the city.

()

I aimed down each and every hallway that passed on my left as I walked backwards, covering the rear. Beasley should be doing the same on the other side. The next hallway had a room at the end of it and its door was wide open. I stopped after seeing the figure standing in the room.

"Wander?" my HUD read the soldier's IFF tag as Carrion.

"Yeah, I'll catch up, just keep up the guard." He nodded and I jogged down the hallway and stopped at the doorframe. I could hear her sobbing about something.

"Carrion, what the hell are you doing?" she didn't even react to what I said. I moved around in front of her and shook her. She looked up from what looked like a letter.

"Corporal? I oh fuck, I didn't mean to leave the group, I just well, did. Couldn't stop myself." I grabbed her chest plate and yanked her closer to me.

"You ever disobey an order again and I will beat you senseless. This little detour could put everyone at risk you….." I stopped midsentence as something moved beyond the doorframe. I leaned over slightly and saw a blue glow highlighting a grunt half lit by the glow. I slammed into carrion, tackling her to the ground as the creature's weapon fired. The blue grenades flew through the room and detonated inside the small bathroom. Before I could try to move and react, the floor collapsed causing the floor below it to collapse as well. I felt too many crashes to know what all happened. By the time we stopped moving, carrion was now sprawled on top of me. I gently shoved her off so I could sit up.

"You alright Carrion?" she groaned as she sat up.

"No, but I'm alive." I watched as she opened the back of a picture frame, pulling the image out of it and stuffing it into one of her pouches, along with the letter I had seen.

"How far do you think we fell?" she looked up and spoke instantly.

"About six floors. Ouch. This is the club floor. I think." I flicked on my radio as I spoke again.

"Beasley, do you read?" there was a short burst of static over the radio, then what sounded like gunfire.

"Yeah, we got covies swarming all over us! Where the hell are you two?!"

"About six floors down. Covies blew the floor out. Just get down to the streets, we'll meet you there!" he acknowledged and I stood up, scooping my rifle up out of the dust and debris. She sprung up and started picking her way through the rubble. As she moved, she kept her rifle raised and ready, but kept her side facing where she aimed, trying to present the smallest possible target to any would be attacker.

"Carrion, don't face you side to the enemy. Your side plates are thinner and weaker than your chest piece. Keep your rifle perpendicular from your chest, that will keep your chest to your target, so if you do get hit, you're more likely to survive." She shifted the way she was moving as she walked.

"Ok, they never really taught me to fight in basic. They just taught me to patch people up."

"Ok. How far to the elevator?" she stopped as she did a quick survey of the environment.

"Well, if I'm correct, we are in the club's restaurant. Looks like tables off over there. So not very. We have to enter the club to get in the elevator." I nodded and gestured to her to lead the way. She trotted ahead, following the suggestion I had given her. We picked our way out of the rubble and stopped at a door.

"Well, I think this will bring us into the club." As soon as we stopped, I could hear the sound of some pounding beat coming from the next room over.

"Ok, when we enter the room, you sweep the left ninety degrees, ill sweep the right, Hooyah?" she moved to the left side of the door.

"Hooyah! By the way, thanks for bringing me, I've always wanted to go!" I shook my head at her and pressed the door switch. The door slid open and I rolled around the corner. The first thing I noticed was the music, which had a deep pulsing rhythm. The second thing I noticed was the shimmer in the air not ten feet away. I aimed and fired without even thinking.

()

Carrion rolled around the corner in one smooth motion, feeling her body instantly start moving with the rhythm of the music. She nearly jumped as the corporal's weapon started firing into thin air. She glanced over and saw purple blood start splashing all over the floor as the elite's active camo failed. The creature collapsed to the floor. She suddenly realized that she wasn't checking her side and snapped her eyes back over. There was a group of grunts on the dance floor. She started pulsing the trigger on her rifle, firing incredibly short but accurate bursts of fire, tagging every single grunt with a single burst. She finished sweeping her side of the room.

She didn't see anything but something seemed off to her. Suddenly, she heard wander's rifle go off again, this time in single rhythmic shots. A green carbine round shot past her head and she instantly shot toward the bar that was built on either side of the elevator doors. She rolled over the counter and dropped to the floor. Wander came sliding over the bar, landing on his feet and instantly able to return fire. She peeked up and saw the jackals lining the raised seating, hiding behind knocked over tables. One of the doors that lead to an exterior balcony opened up, allowing at least five elites, led by an elite general, to march in. multiple teams of grunts swarmed in behind them. She sprayed what rounds that remained in her rifle at them, killing a few of the grunts.

()

I plinked rounds at the jackals swarming the balcony, usually killing the creatures. Carrion popped up and fired off a burst. I followed the line of her fire and saw the elites. I grabbed the plasma pistol off her belt, twisted the holographic nob all the way to the right and squeezed the trigger. The weapon started to glow as it built up a charge. I suddenly popped up and fired the weapon at the lead elite. The shot connected, causing an electromagnetic pulse to blast away from the elite, disabling its shield as well as its allies. Carrion popped back up and fired three controlled bursts into the vulnerable creatures, killing all three. The other two elites dived for the closest cover they could find as I grabbed a frag grenade and lobbed it at the grunts as they swarmed in. the grenade went off, blasting the small creatures off their feet, killing the majority of them.

I charged the plasma pistol back up and nodded to carrion. She nodded and fired a burst at the elite general. The creature returned fire with its dual plasma rifles as I popped up and fired the pistol into it. Its shield held off the blast, causing carrion's second short volley to simply bounce off.

"Fuck, cover me!" she nodded as I reloaded my rifle, taking a deep breath to settle any nerves. I suddenly leapt over the counter as plasma rounds and needle shards slammed into it. I fired a burst toward the jackals and another at the scattered grunts as I sprinted at the elite general. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other elite move to shoot me with its plasma repeater. Before it could even level the weapon, a sustained burst from carrion caused the creature to stumble. Just feet away from the elite, I dropped my rifle, letting it clatter to the floor as I grabbed the energy sword out of my pouch. I swung at the creature, activating the weapon and slashing the creature's weapons. It leapt back, pulling out its own sword. It lunged forward, thrusting the blade at me. I slid to the side and swung my blade up, slicing clean through its forearm. The creature clutched the stump and screamed as I danced to the side, slicing its legs. I then leaned forward and rammed the blade into the creature's gut. It stopped screaming and slumped to the floor as I dropped down, putting the covenant weapon back into my pack.

A jackal ducked out of cover above me and I reached for my pistol, knowing I had no chance of drawing the weapon and firing. A pair of rifle rounds punched through the creature's skull and it collapsed to the ground. I grabbed out my SMG and popped out, firing the silenced weapon at whatever showed itself to me. The weapon emptied and I dropped down putting the weapon back on its clip. I glanced at my rifle, about three meters away.

"Go for it wander! I gotcha covered!" her voice over the radio sprung me into action. I sprinted for the weapon, scooping it up without missing a step. I hit the counter top and dived over, slamming onto the ground.

"You are either mentally insane, or you got some cojones on ya." I stood up and fired a couple of rounds at one of the few remaining grunts, instantly killing it.

"I think it's a bit of both." She smirked at what I said. I checked my rifle's ammo counter, seeing that it still had twelve rounds in it. I nodded to her after she finished reloading her own rifle. We popped up together and started firing. A jackal toting a beam rifle was hiding behind the DJ booth. It popped up and I plinked a single round into its head. I stopped paying attention as we both finished off the remaining grunts and jackals. I fired my last two rounds and reloaded as my radio came to life.

"Wander! We made it to the lobby, but the covenant have us pinned down! Already have three KIA! Krenick didn't make it!" we both exchanged worried glances as she summoned the elevator.

"Alright hang in there, we're on our way." We both heard a pair of bangs on the balcony door. I spun around just fast enough to see the door turn red as it heated up. I dived on top of carrion, launching us back behind the bar. A split second later, the door blew in as two green beams of energy lanced out, blowing out the elevator shaft. I peeked up over the bar as the two hunters marched into the room. The massive creatures usually traveled in pairs and were near unstoppable without heavy weapons. I swore just seconds before the entire wall blew in, crushing the two creatures. The dust cloud suddenly parted as a pelican drifted into the hole. Each wing had the racks for a 220mm anti structure rocket on them.

()

Carrion coughed as dust filled her lungs. She heard the roar of a pelican's engines and glanced up to see the craft spin around and land on the dance floor. She grinned as they both left the bar headed for the pelican. Somehow, the music was still audible over the engines. She let herself flow with the familiar song, dancing just as she had years ago. She stopped when she realized that Wander was watching her. She felt blood rush to her face as his visor depolarized. He was smiling at her, and she returned the smile before she spoke.

"What?" he shook his head as he spoke.

"Just remind me of someone I used to know."

"Oh, who?" his face suddenly darkened as if lost in thought or a memory.

"Corporal?" he snapped out of it almost instantly. His body remained rigid though, worse than his norm.

"Sorry, it's unimportant, let's go." They boarded the pelican as a voice came over the radio.

"Glad you could join us. We already lost a hornet trying to reach you two. You team is still pinned downstairs. Think you can change that?" carrion sat down in one of the seats as the pilot spoke. Wander, on the other hand, merely grabbed onto the cargo net above them.

"Hooyah. Drop us behind them and well lay some hurt into those alien bastards." The pilot acknowledged and the pelican lifted off the floor, shooting out of the hole in the wall. The bay doors closed as the craft seemed to just drop out from under them as the pilot dropped the craft's altitude. She tuned her radio to the pilot's channel and listened in to their chatter.

"This is H-1-2, returning to formation, banshees are cleared out. 3 and 4 are covering the falcons." She felt the craft seem to tilt as gravity returned to the bay. They must be close to the ground now.

"Roger that, Hell hawk. Tell 3-2 and 3-3 to stay back. We are dropping two troopers behind the enemy to target their triple A's so we can blast the covenant out. Then we are going to scoop up who we can. 3-2 and 3-3 will pick up stragglers." The pilot's acknowledged as she switched back to wander's frequency. She watched as he seemed to speak, confused that she couldn't hear him.

"Looks like the fly boys are being swatted away by grunts with fuel rod guns, as well as an anti-air wraith. They can handle the tank and most of the main force if we suppress the infantry." She nodded as his visor depolarized.

"You ok Carrion?" she shook her head as fresh waves of pain swept across her body.

"My back feels like its on fire, and that fall, well hurts like hell." He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a slight smile.

"Hey, hang in there, were almost out of this mess." She moved to return the smile, but he was already looking out of the freshly opened bay door.

()

The craft lowered to the ground and I moved to drop down but a voice behind me stopped me.

"Corporal! Here, take this!" the pelican's Weapon's chief came out of the cockpit, toting an M-247 machinegun. The heavy weapon was normally mounted to a tripod, but someone had rigged a simple fold out bi-pod on this one. I took the weapon as he ran back and grabbed a bag of ammo for it, handing that to carrion.

"Now, there's only eight hundred rounds all told so be conservative with it." I nodded and stepped out of the bay. The street wasn't even visible under the rubble and we picked our way toward the IFF tags of the rest of the team. We came over a rise, revealing almost all of the covenant positions beneath us. I dropped to my stomach and set up the gun on the top of the ridge.

"Carrion, stay on my left, when the gun empties, you load, I cover." She nodded and I sighted in, looking for the AA armed infantry. I found a group and squeezed the trigger. The heavy weapon bucked around as it fired, spraying some rounds off course. The grunts I had targeted shredded under the salvo. I spotted another group and pivoted the gun over, firing another powerful burst. An elite was caught in it this time and even its energy shield didn't save it. Plasma rounds began raining down on our position as I shifted to the next AA group.

"CORPORAL!" I heard the shout just a split second before I was torn off my stomach and sent tumbling down the hill. I rolled onto my back as I pulled my rifle off my back, aiming back up the hill. A strange ape like creature slammed its fist into carrion's chest and she was sent sprawling. I instinctively fired, watching the heavy rounds slam into the creature. It turned toward me, completely unfazed by the heavy volley of rounds. It shot toward me as my weapon emptied. I dropped it, instantly grabbing the handgun on my hip. I squeezed the trigger without even aiming and the creature slammed into the ground.

I holstered the weapon and scooped up my rifle, not even bothering to check how I had killed the creature. I sprinted up the hill as I reloaded my rifle, easily shooting two jackals as they came up from their side. I shouted as I slid to a stop beside Carrion's, motionless body.

"Carrion! Come on get up!" she didn't stir for a second and I feared the worst. Suddenly, she rolled over, her rifle still clutched tightly in her hand.

"Son of a bitch, that monkey can punch!" I pulled her to her feet and dropped back down to the machine gun. Grunts and jackals swarmed up the hill and I fired, watching the heavy rounds tear the creatures apart. The gun emptied and I switched to my rifle, firing single rounds down on them as Carrion instantly reloaded the machine gun. I sidled over before she could finish, giving her room to fire it. She grabbed the weapon and fired it down into the covenant. I did a quick scan around us as I reloaded. Two elite zealots were moving to flank us from the left. I grabbed my last frag grenade and lobbed it at them. The grenade bounced off one of their helmets, detonating before it reached the ground, instantly killing one of them. The other was sent tumbling down the hill.

The entire area rocked as a single hornet swooped down, blasting the covenant tank apart. A pair of hornets roared in from the other side, firing their missile's into the infantry. Not half a second later, the pelican roared into the area, practically crashing tail first into the lobby. Carrion emptied the machinegun as the pelican lifted off, racing away. A pair of falcons thundered down and landed in front of the building.

"Let's go, leave the gun!" carrion grabbed her rifle and sprinted after me as I toke off down the embankment. Both falcon's had machineguns mounted into their bays. Unlike the pelican, the falcon had two small rotor's, like an old fashion helicopter. The two rotors were assisted by small jet engines underneath them. You had to run under that exhaust to get into the cramped bay.

I slid to a stop next to the craft, placing one foot on the deck plating. The elite I had blown down the hill started slowly rising to its feet. I fired a single round into its forehead and it slumped to the ground. I saw a group of grunts at the edge of my vision. I pivoted and instantly recognized the fuel air gun one of the creatures was toting. I aimed and fired, rapidly pulsing the trigger to send a volley of rounds at them. One of the rounds connected with the gun and it detonated, slaughtering the group. Carrion leapt into the cramped bay and I rolled in behind her. She sat in the last remaining seat and I crouched in the center as the craft jerked into the air.

I studied the one of the soldiers manning a Machine gun in the bay. His armor was unlike any I had ever seen. It was a patchy dark brown color that seemed to shift and change as he moved. The helmet was very bulbous, almost like that of an EVA suit. The armor itself was very smooth and no hard edges, like all the other armors I had seen before. My attention was suddenly grabbed by carrion as she started coughing heavily.

()

Carrion leaned back in the seat letting herself relax a little. There were only five seats on a falcon, and all of them were occupied, leaving Wander crouched in the center. She took a deep breath to try to stop the shaking that had sprung up across her body. She felt something shift in her chest, followed by an intense pain from the same area. Her body instantly started coughing, out of her own control. The pain intensified even more as she struggled to find the will to stop.

"Carrion, you ok?" she tried to speak, but she could barely even breathe. Nothing but a broken squeak came out. She shook her head.

"Fuck. Punctured lung?" she nodded, still unable to speak.

"That damn Jiralhanae must've broken a rib. You there, trooper, you guys got a medic?" one of the gunners spun in his seat, instantly responding.

"Yeah, we got a doctor too. I'll tell the pilots to speed it up." Wander nodded to him and he spun back.

"Ok, slow shallow breaths. Nice and slow. Don't think about anything but that." She closed her eyes, trying to do as he said. Every time she even began to draw a breath, the pain in her chest intensified. She started to panic as she seemed to get less air with each breath.

"Shit, calm down just think, don't panic. You'll be fine. Beasley, got any pain meds left?" he took a few seconds to respond.

"No." her eyes flicked open to find, wander's steel gray eyes staring back at her. Somehow, his expression seemed calm, unaffected by any of the events today. She felt herself start to calm down, finding herself focused on his eyes.

"There you go, slow and steady." The pain in her chest seemed to lessen the slower she breathed, enabling her to get more air with each breath. Wander suddenly moved, and she barely caught what he said.

"Well I don't know if it was a Jiralhanae, I've never seen one. Big and ape like is what it looked like." One of the gunner's spoke up.

"Yeah, your right, but we call em brutes." wander turned his head to that gunner.

"Well, I never knew the UNSC designation, and until today, I had never seen one. Sorry. Carrion, how you doin'?" she gave him a thumbs down as he turned back toward her.

"Just hang in there, ok. Concentrate on breathing." She nodded and let herself get lost in his eyes again. She lost track of time, feeling like an eternity had passed before she was jolted back to reality. She felt wander grab her arm and sling it over his shoulder.

()

I grabbed carrion's arm and slung it over my shoulder as hauled her out of the bay.

"Where's the Doc trooper?" he waved at me to follow and I complied, half dragging her with me. Bale came sprinting over from the pelican.

"Hey, is Maria alright." I didn't even look back as I spoke

"No, get the rest of the wounded and follow. Now." He hesitated, as if he was going to say something. He shook his head and sprinted back to the drop ship. The trooper led me into a tunnel, turning into the first door in it.

The area we had landed in was actually entirely underground and had ONI symbols across the facility. Something about it felt wrong, almost like it was built to keep people in. I carried Carrion into the med bay as a soldier in his fatigues rushed over.

"Condition?" his voice was deep and rough, fitting his aged face.

"Punctured lung, at least a broken rib, first degree burns across her back." He nodded and gestured to a table to set her on. I complied as bale came in with the rest. Bale moved to stand by Carrion's side and I stopped him.

"Get the fuck out of my way corporal!" I kept my hand on his chest plate, remaining perfectly calm as I spoke.

"Bale listen to me." He glared as he shouted again.

"If you don't move, I'm going to blow you brains out!" I stepped forward, placing one of my legs behind his and shoved him forward. He tripped over my leg and sprawled to the floor. Before he could react, I stepped forward and placed my foot on his throat.

"You listen to me and you best remember what I say. If you ever threaten another soldier again, I will personally execute you. Now as I was going to say, watch over ALL of the wounded, not just specialist Carrion. Do you understand me!?" I crouched down as I spoke. He nodded in response and I stepped back, offering him a hand up. He seemed to debate for a second, then reached up and grabbed my hand. I hauled him to his feet and nodded back to him. Beasley came dashing into the room, instantly talking.

"The leader of this group wants to speak to you Corporal." There was a burn on his chest plate, and his leg was bleeding from a graze.

"Got it, get yourself patched up." He shook his head, stepping out with me.

"I'm fine Dan, it's just a scratch. This way." He led the way down the hall to another room, this time, a conference room. There was a middle-aged man in a lab coat inside, flanked by two of the ONI troopers. Both troopers were in full battle-rattle, ready for anything.


	6. Chapter 6

"Corporal Daniel Wander, correct?" I nodded and he continued. "Can you please explain to me where in the city you were attempting to take your little band of misfits?" the civilian had an air of authority to him, as if he was used to being in command.

"With all due respect, I aint telling you shit till I know who you are." I crossed my arms, knowing I had just pissed him off.

"Dr. Henry Coleman. And I have been given the authority equal to that of an admiral. Now answer my question." I kept my visor polarized as I spoke, keeping a close eye on the two troopers beside him.

"We were looking for the superintendent, in hopes that it could help us get off world." He nodded and brought a map up on the Holographic table between us.

"This is a map of a secret access to the superintendent, updated less than an hour ago." The map showed that three of the neighboring skyscraper's had collapsed around the access, creating a gully around it. It also showed at least two companies of covenant troops surrounding the sight, as well as almost two dozen Wraith tanks.

"Let me guess, you want us to get in there for you." He smiled at me in an almost animal fashion.

"Yes, I do. And you're going to do it, because if you don't, I will leave your entire team here. Including the wounded. Bring me the superintendent's data, and I'll get all of you out of here." Beasley spoke over our radios, keeping the other people in the room from hearing us.

"Dan, I don't like this." I didn't move as I responded.

"Neither do I, but this looks like our only chance." I turned off my radio and continued. "Looks like I don't have a choice." The scientist's smile broadened as he spoke.

"Good. Now, you only have access to one falcon of mine. Choose wisely." He spun and stepped out of the room through a back door the two troopers following behind him.

"Ok Beasley, we need a team that knows how to move quietly, with diverse skills. Definitely going to want to bring the medic. You too, maybe Reynolds or Sánchez too. Four would be tight in a falcon bay, especially if we are leaving gunners behind." He nodded as he spoke.

"I agree with the need for a medic, but carrion can't fight for shit, you saw her at the ambush. She can't hit shit." I closed my eyes as images flooded my mind, remembering her fighting in the club.

"She'll be fine. She did a lot better in the club and while saving your ass. Plus, she learns quick. She'll be fine." He nodded as I looked at the map controls. I brought up the access itself. It showed it as having a back entrance inside the only building still standing. I zoomed out the image, focusing on the building, swapping it through the filters until I found a thermal view. There were multiple hits on the view. Some looked more like transformers than living things, but on the higher floors, there were way too many hits to be active tech.

"If we came in low, then hunted for a way through this building, we would come out near the ground floor of the building, close to this maintenance access. The building should hide us and it doesn't seem like there are any covenant on the lower floors, so we should be able to sneak in, even with a rookie." He nodded as he took over the controls. He panned over and switched the map over to a scan view, showing what the drone could pick up inside the collapsed building. He quickly found a route through and downloaded the data.

"Good to go." I nodded to him as I left the room.

"Ok, you go find the other two. Pick which one will go if carrion is in fighting shape. Ill check on her." He nodded and I walked back to the infirmary as he jogged past to the hanger. The door slid open and I saw carrion, wearing nothing but a sports bra. The doctor had something sticking into her side.

"Doc, is she battle ready?" he didn't even turn as he spoke. She, on the other hand glanced up, grimacing. She had a dark skin tone and deep brown hair, pulled up into a tight bun on her head. She managed a small smile as I walked in.

"Not at her peak, but yes. I moved her bone back in place and use a biodegradable adhesive on it as well as her other ribs. I sealed her lung with bio-foam. She needs a hospital or ships med bay within a day or two though." He pulled the instrument out, bandaging the incision. She instantly started putting her gear back on.

"What am I needed for Wander?" she had a look of determination on her face that seemed unstoppable.

"A small team has to go back into the city and retrieve the superintendent. I want a medic on it." Bale stepped between us, an angry defiance behind it.

"No, I'm not letting her go. She's hurt." Before I could say anything, she stepped around him, all of her gear already on, her helmet in her hand.

"You can't stop me. It makes sense to me. Who all is going?" I smiled to her, knowing she wouldn't see it.

"Me, Beasley, and either Reynolds or Sánchez." She nodded as she put her helmet on and scooped her rifle up from beside the door.

"Well let's go." She smirked at me as she moved to trot out. Bale stepped forward and grabbed her arm to stop her.

()

Carrion started to slip back into her uniform and body armor as bale and wander argued. She grabbed her helmet off the ground and stepped around bale, instantly speaking.

"You can't stop me. It makes sense to me. Who all is going?" She tried to put on a brave face, thinking back to that brute. His body language seemed to change, as if he was smiling at her. His faceplate was polarized still though.

"Me, Beasley, and either Reynolds or Sánchez." She nodded and put her helmet on. The doc had set all of the wounded's rifles near the door. She grabbed hers and moved to the doorway.

"Well let's go." She smirked before moving to trot out. A hand grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"Carrion, please don't go, I don't like the sound of this. I don't want to lose you." She smiled at his worried expression.

"I'll be fine. The corporal knows what he's doing." Carrion leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek, her unstrapped helmet nearly falling off when she did so. He smiled and she trotted out of the room before he could stop her again. The corporal had been waiting just down the hall. She fixed her helmet as he spoke.

"How ya feeling Specialist?" she replaced the strap on her helmet before she responded.

"My back still hurts, and I'm having some trouble breathing. I'm good to go though." He nodded as they stepped back into the hanger. Reynolds, Sánchez and Beasley stood by a falcon as its rotors spun up.

"Guess I aint needed. Hey Reynolds, be careful, ok?" Sánchez's voice broke the silence between them. He nodded and he grabbed her hand to shake it. She pulled him into a pseudo hug, dwarfed by his size. She darted away stopping for a second to speak to carrion.

"You too girl, I saw ya when you came off the bird." Carrion nodded and smiled to her as she darted off.

"Ok, Reynolds, carrion, we have to go back into the city and retrieve the superintendent's data. Beasley is uploading an area map as well as tactics for this operation to your HUD systems. It isn't necessary to memorize it, but I recommend it. I want total silence on our way in." he stepped onto the Falcon as he spoke. He sat in the side seat as she moved back to the center seat across from him.

"Corporal, I have no stealth experience." Carrion stared at his dark faceplate as he unclipped his M-7 and loaded a fresh mag in.

"Here, take it. I loaded it with subsonic rounds. They don't hit as hard but they are quiet. All you need to know is to follow me. Do as I do." She nodded as he pulled his hand gun out of its holster, screwing a silencer on it and swapping the magazine out for a new one. She felt the craft start to lift off the deck as a pair of ONI troopers jumped into the gunner's seats on either side, forcing Beasley to crouch in the center of the bay. It rose straight up, rising out of the hanger and floating off into the city.

()

Beasley's thoughts bounced between carrion and wander. Carrion's breaths were short and shallow. And last time he saw her fight, she couldn't even hit the side of a barn. And wander, his breath was ragged as well. Worse than he had ever seen him have. His thoughts drifted off to his own family. His wife and kids lived on reach, the military capital of the UNSC. He was scared that reach and earth weren't safe anymore. Suddenly, carrion's voice broke his train of thought.

"So do we have any idea if there are any more brutes down there?" Beasley responded before wander could.

"Yes. The heat sigs in the building match brute temps and sizes." He watched as her face paled with fear.

"If you see a brute, aim for the head, it's how I killed the one earlier." Beasley shook his head at him.

"No, that's suicide. You can bounce two or three mags of AP rounds from an MA series off em and do nothing to it. Blow em up."

"Or aim for the eye socket. It'll be weaker than the skull and if a round punches through, it'll ricochet around in its skull, wreck the brain. That's probably how you killed it corporal." Carrion's voice made him jump again, not expecting her to speak. Wander nodded as he spoke.

"That makes sense. Guess it was luck that the forty-five punched through." Reynolds burst into the conversation.

"Well, I'm glad I'm here. Brute eyes are small targets, incredibly hard to hit. Two marksmen will make it a lot easier. Wander nodded as the whole group went silent, simply listening to the thrum of the engines. Carrion's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Corporal, why are you in charge? It doesn't make any sense." Beasley's eyes flicked between wander and Carrion, curious as to where this conversation was going.

"Carrion, I really don't know. Reynolds here has more experience than any of us. He has been part of the military for almost thirty years. He spent half of that time in cryo. You'd have to ask him why he is letting me lead. The next highest ranking guy is a pilot, so naturally, he aint gonna lead us." Reynolds spoke up before any of us could.

"I let him lead because I've been in his place. I'm never going to try that again. I screwed it up." Beasley startled himself with his own voice.

"Well, personally, Wander was the best choice from the beginning. He has always put his team first and he got us through all of the training missions without a scratch. I wouldn't want to follow anyone else. I know him and I trust him." Reynolds nodded as he spoke, instantly agreeing with him.

"Hmm. Is it bad that I already feel like I trust him?" Carrion seemed deep in thought and jumped when Wander spoke.

"I am sitting right here people. I think your all idiots for trusting me, and honestly, I think I shouldn't be in charge. But someone has to be." His body shifted away from them, facing off into the city. The pilot's voice broke to them over the radio.

"One minute people. You got maybe ten seconds to clear out before I dust off." Beasley shifted, ready to leap out as soon as he could. The craft lowered to just feet from the ground and Wander seemed to just flow out of the bay, landing on his feet, his weapon ready. Beasley dropped down beside him, raising his M-7 and sweeping the area. The after wash from the falcon lifted off of them as the craft lifted away. Wander started forward, headed straight for the collapsed skyscraper in front of him. Beasley quickly followed, watching the right side of the group as wander watched the front. If done correctly, Carrion and Reynolds would be watching the rear and left, creating full three hundred and sixty degree coverage. Their formation turned as they reached the building, following along beside it until they found their entrance. Beasley felt Wander stop and he dropped to his knee, watching out away from the building. He glanced over to see Carrion beside him doing the same. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he shifted to watch along the length of the fallen building. He quickly felt another pat on his other shoulder and he spun, slipping into the collapsed building after Carrion.

()

I wormed my way through the tight passages of the building, trying my best to aim down every passage I saw with my pistol while keeping my rifle from catching on the debris. Reynolds ended up having to unsling the massive sniper rifle he had found inside the Army base and was barely able to fit through some of the spaces. I checked the map that Beasley had downloaded and realized we were about to be exposed. The path, although we could walk down to the ground, had a massive opening that had been torn in the side of the building. This open space would give us an over watch position over the ground that could be repelled down from.

I slipped into the massive crevice and crept over to the edge, scanning the entire area for enemies. Reynolds stopped beside me and pulled out his climbing rope, instantly working on anchoring the rope onto the building. The entire area was swathed in debris, making it near impossible to tell if there was any Covenant amongst the ruins.

"Ok we'll repel down one at a time. Reynolds, you last, me first, Carrion and Beasley between. Move" they all nodded and I slung onto the rope, not even bothering to try to tie myself in. I crept down the rope, raising my pistol at the bottom and scanning the entire area. I heard Carrion grunt slightly as she worked her way down to the bottom. She came up beside me, raising my M7 and scanning the area.

"Wander, do you really think we can pull this off?" I glared at her and held a finger up to my mouth. Beasley dropped to the dirt, quickly climbing a short distance up the rubble for a better view. Reynolds boots hit the dirt and I signaled for him to go join Beasley. I started moving through the rubble, drifting from piece to piece as rain started to fall in thick sheets. Carrion slipped up beside me as I stopped at some rubble.

"I thought this area of the planet was a desert?" she hesitated as she wiped moisture off her face.

"About this time of year, we start getting monsoons. No one knows why. Looks like this is going to be a mild one." I depolarized my visor as my face dropped into disbelief.

"How the hell, and this is mild?" she shrugged and I rolled around the corner, matching my movements with the direction and speed of the windblown rain. Carrion realized how I was moving and started doing the same. She caught up to me at the next piece of debris and I signaled for her to stay. Something felt wrong. I moved around to the next piece of debris, taking shelter from the rain under it. A group of brutes became visible in the rain, marching straight toward my position.

The lead brute stopped next to the debris and started sniffing the air. I raised my pistol, lining the sights up on the creature's eye. I heard a faint growl as the creature snarled, moving into the dry space I was in. I exhaled my breath and squeezed the trigger. There was a loud clack as the weapon fired. The round punched through the creature's eye socket and it collapsed to the ground. The others in its pack howled as I sprinted around to the other side of the debris.

"Everyone, hold your fire! Just get that damned AI and get out of here. I'll lure them away!" I rammed my sidearm back into my holster and unslung my rifle, sliding to a stop in the mud. My breath came in ragged gasps as I struggled to stabilize my rifle. The first brute came around the corner and I let loose a burst from my rifle. The creature barely flinched as the heavy rounds tore at its face, ripping massive furrows along the skin. The creature howled as I instantly spun and sprinted away.

I felt myself slowing down as the pain in my chest intensified. I spun to a stop again raising my rifle and scanning around me. The brutes should've been just seconds behind me, and yet, they hadn't shown up. I sprinted toward the building as bright orange spikes started slamming into the debris around me as I ran. The objects near instantly flash cooled in the rain as I ducked and weaved through the debris. I slipped around a corner and saw a massive fist out of the corner of my eye.

The fist slammed into my shoulder and I slammed into the mud, sliding almost two meters in the thick sludge. My rifle was lying almost five meters away, having been sent flying away. I grabbed one of the grenades the ONI troopers gave me off my belt as the creature hunched over, roaring at me. I depressed the button and flung the weapon at the creature. It bounced of the creature's chest as it leveled its bladed weapon toward me. I rolled over and started crawling away as the grenade detonated, blasting the area with shrapnel. I felt multiple sharp stings tear into my back and legs as I shot to my feet, sprinting away. The building's doors slid open as I approached. I slid through before they were even half open. I barely had time to react when a massive hand grabbed my throat and lifted me into the air.

()

Carrion heard Wander's shout over the radio as she peaked around the corner. He was sprinting away with at least seven brutes chasing him. She watched in horror as he disappeared around the debris, knowing he had no chance of surviving.

"Beasley! Can you two see them!" she rolled around the corner instantly following. There was a brute corpse half under some of the debris, blood still leaking from its head.

"Yeah, but we don't have a clear shot! Follow them! We'll guide you!" she didn't speak as she sprinted after them, following the tracks in the fresh mud.

"Slow down a bit specialist, they are right in front of you!" she heard a burst of rifle fire as she slid to a stop in the muck. One of the brutes roared as Reynolds voice tore into the radio.

"We gotta move up. Were gonna set up inside the building. Just stay with him!" she leaned around the corner, watching as the brutes ran after him. She darted out, moving from debris to debris. The group suddenly split up, two of the brutes in front of her stopping and hunkering down. She stopped, raising her own weapon, ready to fire. Seconds passed and suddenly the brutes lunged forward. There was a sound, almost like a bullet ricocheting off a steel plate. Orange flashes leapt away from the brute's weapons, launching massive shards of superheated metal. The brutes started running again as Wander's vitals speed up on her HUD.

"Were inside the building. There is some kind of main hall that takes up the whole first floor. The balconies run both inside and outside of the building! We got eyes on him again!" she sprinted after him again, her radio instantly crackling back to life.

"He's got a brute in front of him! I don't have a clear shot." She heard a blast as they spoke again.

"He made it! Blew the damn thing up! Keep running Carrion!" she rounded a piece of debris and found the mangled corpse of the brute. She noticed the rifle lying in the muck and scooped it up, instantly recognizing Wander's weapon. She stowed Wander's M7 and kept running.

"He just entered the building! were moving to an over watch abov….Fuck. One of the brutes has him. The others are flooding in. get to that door now." She sprinted forward, watching as the door closed behind the massive creatures. She slipped up beside the door, avoiding the motion sensor that, when triggered, would open it.

()

The Brute grinned as I struggled to pull its fingers apart.

"Your race is so weak. Can't even pull apart a loose grip of mine. I'm going to feed you to the unggoy for what you did to my pack!" the creature spoke in the Elites language.

"Oh really, which race is weaker. The one that still speaks its own language and fights even when they know they've lost? Or the race that submits to slavery and loses everything they are?" I noticed something moving on the balcony above as the creature shook with rage. A Friendly IFF tag appeared over it.

"And you're forgetting the most important part. Us humans, always travels in packs." The creature suddenly started scanning the balconies above him. His head turned toward Beasley and suddenly snapped back as Beasley fired, punching the round straight into the creatures skull. It dropped me as I collapsed to the floor. I tried to scramble to my feet, but my leg seemed to have stopped working. I glanced down as massive booms rattled through the hall, as well as Beasley's much quieter shots. There was a massive shard of metal sticking out of my leg and I started crawling to the nearby pillars.

Grunts and jackals flooded in through one of the doors. There was a sudden deafening burst of automatic fire and the grunts scattered as most of them collapsed. Carrion slid to a stop at one of the pillars I had chosen to hide behind. She smiled over to me as I propped myself up against my pillar.

"Did you actually think we would listen to you!? Here, Catch!" she had been dual wielding both my rifle and hers and she heaved mine toward me. I reached up and caught the grip, instantly dropping the empty magazine out and slamming a fresh one in. I leaned around the corner and fired a trio of rounds into the first grunt I saw. It collapsed to the floor as I shied away, narrowly avoiding the return fire.

"Wander! We gotta move!" I leaned around and fired off another short volley as I spoke.

"I can't! Damned covies screwed up my leg!" she glanced over, as she seemed to realize that there was a reason I was sitting down. I nodded to her and leaned around the corner again. There were three grunts, all exposed as they tried to fire at Beasley and Reynolds. I fired a single shot into each one's cranium, watching as their heads exploded. Carrion darted over and grabbed the handle on the back of my pack, using it to drag me toward the pillar she had been behind. A brute ducked out of its hiding spot and there was a thundering boom as a massive fourteen point seven millimeter round punched through its cranium.

I spun as I heard a door slide open, seeing a pair of brutes come through the same door I had come through. Time seemed to slow down as every muscle in my body became completely relaxed. I sighted in on the brutes eye and I let my breath out. Before I even knew what my body was doing, I squeezed the trigger. I shifted slightly and fired again, watching as both brutes collapsed to the floor. A group of grunts followed the two dead brutes through and I felt my body fire seven more rounds into each of the creature's skulls, all without me even thinking about it.

I felt the direction I was being dragged change as I fired on a pair of jackals in the hall. Walls suddenly appeared in my peripheral vision as plasma bolts slammed into the walls. The wall in front of me slid closed, sealing enemy access to us.

"Where are we?" Carrion kept dragging me back as she spoke.

"The access tunnel. Beasley told me where it was as I was prepping to come in. their using the upper entrance." I shook my head, knowing the walls wouldn't protect us.

"They'll just blow through the wall. We need to block access somehow."

"We're working on it wander!" Beasley and Reynolds were placing charges in the corridor, right where the upper access connected in. Carrion kept dragging me down the corridor and I lost them in the darkness.

()

Beasley trotted down the corridor as he triggered the charges. There was a loud whump followed by dust blasting past them. Carrion was crouched over Wander as she sprayed bio-foam into his leg. There was a giant metal spike lying on the ground beside them.

"Wander, how you holding up?" he barely moved as he responded.

"Painfully, but I'm fine. We need to get moving. Now." Carrion stood and offered her had to wander.

"You should be able to walk now. The bio-foam will hold your muscle together." He took her hand and she hauled him to his feet. He balanced for a second as he slowly put pressure on his injured leg.

"Well, we aint going out that way. Beasley, check the map and see if there is another way. Let's go get that AI." Beasley shook his head, already knowing that there was only one other way out.

"Dan, we gotta fight through the main entrance. There isn't another way." He stopped and shrugged.

"So we will. Now let's go." Beasley started moving after him, easily keeping pace with Wander's limp. Carrion dropped back until she was walking with Beasley.

"Is the corporal always like this? He insisted that I do no more than get him moving. His vitals are erratic, hell I'm surprised he's still alive." Beasley depolarized his visor as he spoke.

"Yeah. He lost his entire unit about two years ago. Lost his entire planet before that, and there is still almost nine months of unaccounted for time while he was MIA. Honestly, he is reckless. He has nothing to live for so why bother trying to live? That's what he thinks, at least. Don't bother trying to get him to see otherwise. We've all tried, no one has succeeded." Beasley speed up a bit, polarizing his visor and ending the conversation.

"Sir, there is always something worth living for, regardless of how hard it is to attain it. I'm not going to sit by and watch someone be destroyed because they don't see that." Beasley rolled his eyes at her as he spoke.

"First, I'm the same rank as you so don't call me sir. Second, it doesn't matter what you think. His life, his choice." Carrion seemed to be following him like a lost puppy dog.

"But Beasley….." Beasley cut her off before she could continue.

"Why the hell do you care so damn much? So what if he gets himself killed, your only concern should be your own damned survival." She stopped in her tracks, dropping behind him.

()

Carrion stared at her feet as she stopped.

"Hey, carrion come on." Reynolds voice startled her and she started moving forward again.

"What's wrong Carrion? You seem distracted." She sighed as she spoke.

"I'm worried about the corporal. I don't know if he's going to do his best to get us out of here. He doesn't seem to care about life or death." Reynolds placed a hand on her shoulder as he spoke, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Carrion, his unit was wiped out protecting a mining colony. I don't know how, but he made it out. His words to his commander when they were ordered to withdraw were, 'respectfully but fuck you. We came to save these people, that's what we are going to do'. He's going to get us out alive. I know because he did save those people." Carrion felt some of her fears seem to lesson.

"But what about him, who's going to make sure he makes it out alive?" Reynolds frowned as he spoke.

"I guess that's up to you and me. I was in his position a few years ago. Then I met Sánchez taking down an insurgent group. Something worth living for. It's on us to keep him going till he finds his own reason. What do you think he needs?" she thought for a second before she spoke.

"He needs his wounds treated. My breath may be bad, but its stable, his is all over the place. He has multiple shrapnel wounds as well that he wouldn't let me look at. Some could be in nasty places." Reynolds nodded and trotted forward, speaking over the radio as he did so.

"Wander, you really need to get yourself treated for those wounds. We need you, but you can't fight in that condition. We all know that." Wander stopped for a second, seeing the three of them staring back at him.

"Fine, Carrion, make it damn quick. Beasley, Reynolds, keep moving. We'll catch up." Carrion nodded to him as the others moved past him, their flashlights illuminating the path ahead of them.

"Ok, lay down on your chest." He did so and she quickly pulled the shrapnel from his grenade out, filling each wound with some Bio-foam.


	7. Chapter 7

I finished tugging my chest plate on, feeling stiffer than before because of the bandages wrapped tightly around my chest cavity. Carrion handed me my rifle and helmet, smiling slightly.

"Feeling better corporal?" I nodded, noticing that although I was now in constant pain, it didn't intensify with each breath.

"A little. Waste of damn time still but let's go." I rammed my helmet on and turned the flashlight on my rifle on, illuminating the passage before me. Carrion's rifle light flicked on as well as I started moving forward.

"You don't have any intention of coming out of this alive, do you?" carrion's voice startled me as I walked.

"So what if I die? As long as we make it off this planet then I don't care what happens to me." I drifted off into my thoughts, not paying attention and almost missing what she said.

"Dan, we are going to make it off. All of us. Including you. Don't waste your life when you don't have to." I stayed silent for a while, letting her words bounce around in my head. "And Dan, we are going to need you for far longer than just this one battle. There is still a lot more war to go, and I've never even heard of someone who can fight like you can. We need you. Don't throw yourself away." I hesitated for a second, debating saying why my life didn't matter. I shrugged it off and sped up, ignoring her. She trotted to catch up as she spoke again.

"If you can't convince yourself to live for yourself, do it for the rest of us." I stopped, instantly turning on carrion.

"Two words, specialist. Fuck. Off. My life, my choice, not yours. If I chose to die, you can't stop me." I turned back down the hall, practically slamming into Beasley as I entered the AI core. It was a small room filled with computer processors with a small holographic pad near one of the monitors. There was a figure of a female wearing an old leather jacket covered in unit patches floating above the pad.

"You, AI, we need any data you still have." The holographic figure crossed her arms.

"Corporal Daniel Wander. It tends to be polite to learn a gal's name before ya start ordering em around, don'cha think?" I glared at the thing as I spoke.

"Ok. What the fucks your name?" it kept its arms folded and stayed silent. Carrion shouldered past me and spoke before I could stop her.

"Hi there Sar. Long time no see, eh?" the figure uncrossed her arms as she spoke, smiling.

"Good to see you too girl. How's the family? Make it off world ok?" carrion nodded as she spoke.

"Yeah, but we need your backup files from their excavation data. Also, got a chip around here we could store you in? I would rather not leave ya here."

"Hell yeah I do! It's in the holopad already. Opening mobile storage. Downloading Dr. Carrions' work to the drive. Uploading myself to the transport chip. Wiping local copies." The holo disappeared as a port opened up below the monitor. A small AI chip popped out of the Holopad simultaneously. I grabbed the chip and slipped it into my Tac\com unit on my left forearm. I flicked the screen on and typed hello into the interface.

_Hello Dan. Your map data is worse than trying to fly blind. And this comm unit needs an overhaul, has no processing power at all._

I rolled my eyes at the text and powered the screen down as carrion yanked the data core out of the housing. It was a half meter long cylinder, all of its inner components dedicated to memory space.

"Carrion, put it in your pack. Then let's move. Reynolds, call up the good dr. and let him know we have the package but we need fire support. Hooyah?" he chanted it back and got on the radio as carrion stuffed the cylinder in her pack, handing me the magazines I had stuffed into my pack so she could stuff meds in mine. I marched out of the room and straight toward the main exit, stopping at the door to punch in commands. The massive blast door opened as my radio crackled back to life.

"This is Dr. Coleman. I have Air support already en route corporal. We are arriving now. One of my falcons will land thirty meters north of the blast doors within the next thirty seconds. Get there, now." I punched in the final commands to the exterior blast door and it slid open, revealing the massive covenant force, a split second before a volley of missiles slammed into the area, tearing it apart. I sprinted out, my attention being drawn upward by the massive Vulture Gunship floating above us. I ignored the enemy as I sprinted toward the falcon, where it was already hovering down to the ground. The gunner yelled as I approached and I slid to a stop, raising my weapon.

"Stop or I will open fire! Now hand over the data!" he had the massive machinegun pointed straight at us. Carrion snapped her own rifle up and moved off to the right. The gunner yanked his M6 out and leveled it at her.

"I said don't move!" I glanced at the plasma pistol she had tucked into her belt, hidden from the gunner behind her back.

"Carrion has the AI. Give it to them. Now." She followed my eyes as she thought, fighting to keep her confusion off her face. She reached back and pulled the pistol off her belt, instantly charging it up.

"I'm sorry, it's stuck, give me a sec." the gunner's head flicked between us. I adjusted my aim for his throat and made sure my weapon was in semi-auto.

"NOW!" I squeezed the trigger as I hollered, nailing the trooper in the throat. Carrion fired the pistol at almost the exact same moment and it slammed into the falcon. The craft suddenly veered away as the pilot lost all control.

"Run! Back to the entrance! I turned and started sprinting, watching as the pelican lifted away, my entire group tossed in the muck.

()

Carrion sprinted over to the rest of the team as they hunkered down amongst the ruins. She slid to a stop beside bale as he popped up and thrummed off a burst of fire.

"What the hell happened!?" carrion shouted back as he ducked down, reloading his weapon.

"I don't know! The bastards demanded the data. At gun point." He nodded as a pair of plasma bolts whipped over the cover.

"We were told to cram into the pelican for EVAC, next thing we knew the pilot opened the hold and dumped us out! The few of us seated jumped out to help the others." Carrion nodded and glanced up. Fear shot into her heart as a pair of hornets lined up on a strafing run on them. Suddenly, cannon rounds ripped through the first hornet and it detonated. The second peeled off as a Falcon shot after it.

"This is Hell hawk 3-3 to ground. We just watched what the others tried to do. We will do our best to keep the good Dr.'s air power off you. The vulture is already pulling out!" carrion popped up and fired a short burst into a grunt, watching the creature collapse as she dropped back down. She popped up again, spraying rounds into grunts and jackals alike, letting her weapon empty before she ducked back down. She watched as wander slipped over to her position, barely phased by the injury to his leg.

"Bale, I need you to regroup with Sánchez and find us a way out! Carrion, you see someone get hit, get to them and do your best. Hooyah?!" they both nodded and he shifted off to the next group.

"Sánchez, where are you?" Sánchez's voice rang back through the comm just seconds later.

"I'm near the back of the group, right next to the collapsed building!" bale nodded and started running as carrion popped up and fired. She heard a scream and spun to see bale collapse to the ground. She dropped her rifle, sliding to his side. A plasma bolt had slammed into his shoulder and she peeled what little armor was left off. The wound was pouring blood and she reached for a bio foam can, finding nothing.

"Maria I'm fine, save your gear for the others!" he rolled over, shoving her away and sprinting for Sánchez. Carrion crawled back to her weapon, slinging it as she heard someone shout medic. She leaned over her cover and saw a marine lying on the ground, clutching his chest. She rolled over the cover, barely avoiding a pair of pink needle shards. She found her feet under her and before she knew it, she was sliding to a stop beside the marine. The plasma bolt had blasted straight through his chest plate and she dropped her pack to the ground, pulling bandages out and pressing them to the wound.

"Hey, I'm out of meds and bio foam. This is all I got." She wrapped cloth around his chest, tightening it down until the gauze was tight against the wound. The soldier kept screaming as she dragged him closer to the back. She felt her neck burn as plasma shot by through the thick rain, slamming into the wall behind her. There was a deafening bang above her and she watched as a Falcon spun out of control, its engine blown out.

"This is H3-3, we are going down, I repeat, we are…." The pilot's voice cut out as the craft slammed into the ground, practically in the middle of the covenant forces. She watched as an ODST leapt over his cover, his MA5 thrumming off a burst. He landed on the ground, not even missing a step as he sprinted toward the downed bird. She sprinted after him, reading the tag on her HUD as Wander. He slid to a stop by the crafts cockpit, blasting an elite before it could even react. She dived to the deck, crawling into the bay and dragging one of the gunners out. An ODST grabbed him and she crawled back in to retrieve the other gunner. She checked him for a pulse, unable to pull his vitals on her HUD. She felt nothing.

()

I popped over the hull of the craft, firing off my last two rounds into a grunt less than three meters away. I slung my rifle and yanked at the canopy of the Falcon, breaking the seal and lifting the canopy up on its hinge. The pilot winced as I unbuckled his harness and dragged him out. He fell into the mud, barely conscious. Carrion crawled out of the bay as Reynolds scooped up one of the gunners, preparing to run back.

"Carrion, the other gunner!" she shook her head as I reloaded my rifle. She moved to grab the pilot and I shook my head, shoving her after Reynolds. I popped back over the hull and fired a group of rounds, not really paying attention to what I fired at. I watched as a wraith hovered over a rise in the debris. I spun, grabbing the pilot and slinging his arm over my shoulder as I dragged him away. I felt a blast of heat as a plasma mortar washed over the wrecked craft. I dropped behind the first debris I could, knowing I was still at least fifteen meters away from the others. Plasma rounds ripped through the slick mud around us as covenant swarmed over behind the tank.

Time seemed to slow as I peeked around the short piece of rubble. The Wraith's main gun lowered and glowed brightly, about to fire. Suddenly, the tank detonated as a massive boom rocked the area. I rolled back, following the vapor trail up to the cliff like edge of the skyscraper. There was an M808 Scorpion tank sitting on the skyscraper, half of its forward treads hanging off. Its main gun fired again, shortly before its coaxial machine gun opened fire. I grabbed the pilot and sprinted for the tank, barely being slowed by the heavy individual.

"Wander! We found a way out! And it leads right up to that tank!" I didn't get the chance to respond as another unfamiliar voice cut into the comm.

"Howdy down there. Good ol' Sergeant Baxter got your back but not for long! Get yer asses up here!" I slid around the debris almost to the path up.

"You heard the man! Move!" I slowed down as I moved into the crevice, moving as fast as I dared with the wounded soldier in tow. I felt the rain on my helmet again as I reached the top. There was a convoy of tanks, warthogs and a few APC's just a short way down the hill. I dragged the soldier to the closest Warthog and I hauled him into the bed. I clambered in and grabbed onto the M41 mounted in the bed as carrion slid into the passenger seat.

"That looks like everyone, Baxter, let's move!" another unfamiliar voice as Baxter's tank reversed, firing one more shell as a plasma mortar landed just feet from his tank. The tank spun in the mud as the convoy took off. I glanced up as the tank disappeared from my vision, sweeping the sky for covenant air power.

"This is Captain Montgomery of the two-seventy-third armored regiment. Who is in command of the unit who' asses we just saved?"

"This is Corporal Dan Wander of the four-O-seventh O-D-S-T's. We are not a single unit, but I've been leading us." The Warthog lurched around as the driver maneuvered it between debris. Water splashed up as the vehicle lurched through a stream formed due to the rain and debris.

"Jerimiah, you still up there?" the captain's voice broke the silence as the unknown person responded.

"Yes sir, but there is covenant air power all around us and we are barely holding. Were both down to just our Spartan lasers and we are running low on fuel. Expect banshees on you in less than one mic" I only knew of one aircraft with enough power output and the fittings for any kind of laser. Hawks. I charged the M41, then rotated the weapon. A banshee raced around one of the skyscrapers, a hawk hot on its tail. A bright red lance leapt away from the hawk, blasting the banshee into pieces. A second banshee came from the hawk's flank, nailing its portside engine. The craft tumbled out of control and slammed into the ground.

Banshees began swarming from every direction and I opened fire, shredding banshee after banshee as the convoy sped up, barely being able to maintain grip on the roads through all of the water. Two banshees lined up on our warthog and my rounds blew one apart. I stopped firing the gun, realizing that I was risking the barrel warping with the amount of fire I had punched through it. The second banshee closed in, its twin plasma cannons barely missing the 'hog. I barely heard a thumping sound through the rain and the revving engine. The banshee was rocked by an explosion, then fell right out of the air, shattering when it hit the ground. I glanced back to see carrion sitting backwards in her seat, a grenade launcher in her hands.

"Here, catch!" she tossed it to me and I caught it as she slung a belt of rounds over the crossbar between the seats and the bed. I grabbed one, breaking open the launcher. The spent shell flopped out of the launcher and I rammed a fresh round in. my body flipped the barrel back up and locked it down without me thinking as I scanned the sky.

"Wander, those are EMP rounds so watch it!" I gave her a thumbs up as I waited for one of the banshees to close in. I aimed the heavy weapon far above the banshee and squeezed the trigger. There was a loud whump as the weapon fired. I watched the grenade arc out above us, slamming directly into banshee. The round detonated on impact, blowing the small craft apart.

"I think I got this handled carrion!" I felt myself grin slightly as I spoke.

"Damn man, poor bastard. Gotta feel sorry for the covies when your around." My smile broadened as I focused on the next banshee bearing down on us. I fired the weapon again, this time holding the trigger in, preventing the round from activating. I watched it arc out to the banshee and I released the trigger, detonating the charge. The banshee spun out of the sky as more swarmed in. I finished reloading the weapon popped up to fire when the warthog shot into a tunnel. The driver slowed down as the rest of the convoy raced in and I sat down, leaning up against the chain gun. We passed a makeshift barricade as we moved through the underground highway, coming to a stop almost instantly.

I depolarized my visor nodding to carrion as she clambered out.

"Here, why don't you keep this?" Carrion grinned as she took the launcher from me. I grabbed the grenade bandolier and slung it over her shoulder, helping her slip it under her pack and buckling it on. The driver moved around the warthog as medics gathered up all of the wounded, including the ONI pilot we had saved.

"Ya know, stealing other peoples toys tend to be considered rude." The driver had a smirk on his face as he leaned up against the vehicle.

"Yeah, but you gave it to me." She winked at him and moved to present her hand to him when she cringed in pain.

"Corporal Wander, and this is Specialist carrion. Carrion, how you holding up." She shook her head as she dropped onto her knees.

"Private Anderson of the twenty-seventh Infantry Division." I nodded to him as I helped carrion to her feet. I heard a revving tank engine behind me and I spun around to see Baxter's tank back into the entrance, blocking it off. A voice kicked in over an intercom system.

"Corporal Wander, report to the briefing room for a debriefing A-S-A-P!" I turned back to the private as I spoke.

"Know where that is private?" he nodded and signaled for me to follow.

"This tunnel is just a standard underground highway, but we converted a service junction into full base. Two days ago, we had a full company. Now, all we have is a platoon." I nodded to him as Carrion and I followed.

"Haden!" Carrion suddenly shot off, running to Bale. She wrapped her arms around him as soon as she reached him. Beasley came up beside me as I kept moving.

"Dan, we lost four more people in that last engagement. Most of us are wounded in some way."

"I know Damien. Do what you can." He nodded and trotted away as I stepped into the side passage. He led me into a maintenance room that had been converted into a full briefing room. Three soldiers surrounded the holo table in the center of the room.

"Corporal. I am Captain Montgomery." I saluted to him and he returned it instantly.

"I need to know what you were doing in the city and why you fired upon friendly forces." I nodded pulling up a map of the city on the holo table.

"I'll be as brief as possible. We entered downtown to look for the super-intendant. We were hoping it would let us pilot a ship off world. We were shot down at Wang tower when a group of ONI troops saved us. Their leader, a Dr. Coleman, sent me and three others back into the city to retrieve the super-intendant's data, in exchange for a ride off planet. When we came out of the AI core, his troops threatened to kill us. We opened fire and learned he had already dumped our entire team behind us, wounded included. One of their falcons saw this and started providing air cover. They were shot down and you saw the rest." I pointed to each of the engagement points as I spoke. The captain thought for a second before he spoke.

"We were at Wang tower. When the ONI troops blew a hole in the building, the top few floors collapsed. Crushing all but Sergeant Baxter's tank in the small convoy. We found where you were picked up. But we couldn't track you. I'm amazed you were who we found." He brought up a holographic image of a crashed covenant corvette.

"This ship was shot down during the initial invasion. The covenant survived impact and the ship had minor damage that they were repairing. We believe it's still there. If you have the super-intendant, then she can get us home." I nodded, tapping my wrist.

"Yes sir, I do."

"Keep it. Call for full mobilization of all remaining forces. Weapons, ammo, food. Anything we can carry then mount up. Move." The captain stepped around the table, shutting it down. I flicked my radio on as I spoke.

"Everyone, arm up and mount up. We got a possible way home. Scrounge what ammo you can from the armor. Trust me, we will need it." I re-entered the tunnel and carrion moved over to me, my SMG in hand.

"Here Corporal. I believe this is yours." She smiled as I accepted the weapon, swapping the empty magazine for a fresh one.

"Thanks. Get in." she jumped back into the passenger seat and I jumped onto the gun.

"Corporal, your wounded aren't getting in the APC's with the rest." The captain's voice sounded annoyed.

"Don't force them sir. They can fight damn well still. Sir."

"Roger that. Mount up and get moving." The last of the troops boarded the vehicles and the convoy lurched into motion.


	8. Chapter 8

Beasley relaxed a bit as the convoy rolled down the ruined road, avoiding blown apart vehicles and other obstacles.

"Alright, there is a small town up ahead. It has maybe thirty buildings tops, situated at the top of a hill. We will leave the wounded there and use it as a launch point for the assault force. The corvette's crash site is less than five kilometers away from the town. Get ready people, E-T-A five minutes, out." Beasley checked the ammo counter on his DMR, ready for anything. The convoy pulled off the highway, moving up the hill to the town. Most of the town was rubble but a massive church tower still stood at the top of the hill. The rest of the church had been turned to rubble but the tower was still standing tall. Dan's voice suddenly cracked over the radio.

"My team, we stay here and set up a perimeter. Captain, we could use a tank?" the convoy lurched to a stop and Beasley leapt out of the warthog, trotting toward the tower.

"Baxter, you heard him. Stay here" the wounded were quickly transported to the rubble of the church, in the shadow of the remaining tower as medics set up a makeshift med station. The convoy lurched away as Dan trotted over to him, Carrion and another trooper Beasley didn't recognize close behind him.

"Beasley, you and Reynolds are up in the tower. Carrion, grab some new med supplies then meet me here. We will set the perimeter around the walls of the church. Or what's left of them, that should give us a lot of open ground to tear apart any covenant that comes through. Baxter, set your tank in the center of what used to be the pews. Carrion, Bale, Sánchez, Holden and Anderson, we are going to act as a quick reaction force. If anyone starts getting hit hard, we save em. Move out everyone!" Beasley trotted to the tower as people scrambled around him. Reynolds was already at the top when Beasley arrived, setting up the massive sniper rifle he had picked up. They nodded to each other and he used his scope to start scanning the area.

"Beasley, don't you have a wife?" Beasley glanced over at Reynolds as he spoke.

"Yes I do. So if you don't mind, I want to get home." The two of them were silent for a while when Beasley suddenly spoke.

"What do you think are our odds of getting home?" Reynolds depolarized his visor as he responded.

"Well, it depends. If the covies are just putting the finishing touches on that corvette, we are as good as home. If it's done, we're fucked. If it's still under repair, we're fucked." Beasley shook off his fear as he focused on the convoy. It had pulled off the highway and was spreading out across a field to swarm the corvette. The corvette was lost in the only known forest on the planet. His heart leapt into his throat as he watched the corvette rise out of the trees its guns firing on the convoy with pinpoint accuracy. Phantoms and spirit drop ships rose out of the trees and sped toward them.

"Wander, get ready to tango, that corvette aint crashed no more. Drop ships are in bound."

()

I heard Reynolds radio call and I hunkered down in the rubble. The tower was located on the edge of a sinkhole, preventing enemy access. The wounded were hidden at the base of the tower, sheltered by what remained of the building. I watched as the drop ships set down at the edge of town. Most of my troops had set up so they could watch the street up to the building. Within a minute, gunshots rang out as the leading edges engaged.

"Wander! There is too many covies to hold em at the streets, we are pulling back to the rubble!" I moved up as the rest of the troops ran back to the rubble. The church had a massive yard around it. The wide open space would force the covenant to expose themselves as they advanced. I watched as a mass of grunts, jackals, elites and brutes swarmed across the yard. My rifle was firing before I even knew what I was doing. Baxter's tank fired and a group of covenant were blasted apart. I reloaded as an elite leapt over what was left of the wall, tackling Carrion to the ground. Carrion fired her rifle into it, empting her magazine. The creature dropped dead as I popped up and rattled off a burst into a pair of grunts. I watched as white lances leapt down from the tower, cutting down elites and brutes alike. The corvette moved into a firing position in the distance.

"Reynolds, Beasley, get out of there!" I watched in slow motion as the plasma ball slammed into the base of the tower, blasting wounded soldiers apart. The tower collapsed toward me and I dived to the ground. The entire area was swathed in dust and I darted to what remained of the tower. Beasley climbed out, Reynolds right behind him. I spun and saw carrion get struck in the chest by a plasma bolt. She slammed into the ground as I sprinted forward. The enemy was hidden in the dust cloud, and all I saw was silhouettes whenever one fired. I fired back at one of the shapes as I dragged carrion away. She shook my hand off and stood, spitting a burst of fire into a jackal as it sprinted out of the dust.

"You ok?" she nodded as we both hunkered down in the debris. I stopped counting the enemies I killed as creature after creature swarmed out of the dust. Carrion popped up to fire and a needle shard lanced out, tearing through her stomach. Not even a split second later, a pair of plasma bolts slammed into her thigh and shoulder and she collapsed to the ground.

"Maria!" Bale started sprinting over to her and a brute spike ripped into his chest. He fell as I slid over to carrion. I grabbed a bio foam canister off her armor and yanked the pin off, spraying the foam into her injuries. I felt something slam into the back of my leg and I rolled to the ground, blasting the grunt behind me. Holden slid up to Bale in the distance and dragged him out of the open. A pair of elites leapt over some rubble and I emptied my rifle at them. One dropped to the ground as my weapon emptied. The other still had shielding and I yanked out my SMG, firing the weapon into the creature as it fired back. Plasma rounds slammed into the ground around me as the creature fell.

I checked my pouches for another mag for my assault rifle and came up empty. I knew I only had one mag for the SMG and four for my hand gun. I crawled over to carrion and leaned against her, shielding her body with my own. A brute leapt into the rubble, firing its weapon into Reynolds. He collapsed as multiple spikes tore through him. Sánchez sprinted to him and was cut down by a jackal before she could reach him. I aimed at the brute and fired. The brute turned toward me, barely scratched by the weapons fire. Before it could raise its weapon, a round slammed into its eye as Beasley's DMR rang out across the area. I yanked my pistol out as grunts flooded in. I felt plasma rip into my shoulder as I fought them off. Massive balls of plasma slammed down into the rubble, not accurate enough to pin down specific soldiers.

The dust was suddenly blasted away and I glanced up, seeing nothing. There was an incredibly loud blast as a Charon class frigate materialized out of nowhere above us. There was a bright streak coming off her bow, leading straight to the corvette. The enemy ship detonated as a pair of pelicans dropped to the ground. Bright lances from tracer rounds fired from the ships auto cannons tore the covenant apart as marines pulled me to my feet, dragging me onto one of the pelicans. I recognized Baxter as they dropped him onto the deck. The pelican lifted off, crammed full of soldiers, most of them severely wounded. I felt myself slip into quiet darkness as the bay doors closed.

My eyes slowly opened and I took in the clean medical bay around me. I sat up as I looked around, taking in all of the medical equipment. Carrion was on a bed next to mine, her chest rising and falling at a slow steady rate. All the dirt had been cleaned off her face and I noticed all of the small cuts across it. Her body was covered in clean bandages. On my other side was Reynolds. I could see his monitor and I watched as his heart beat regularly and his breath came out slow and steady. The door in front of me shot open and I watched as a female navel captain flanked by two marines in fatigues marched in.

"Hello Wander. Glad to see you awake. Captain Samantha Robles of the U.N.S.C. Bastogne." I saluted and she returned the salute.

"Ma-am, How many of my people did you pull off the planet?"

"Seventeen. Four of which, will never fight again. In this room, we have Kyle Reynolds, Haden Bale, Maria Carrion and yourself. Reynolds is still in critical condition, Bale is waiting for us to finish cloning his lung for a transplant, and carrion is fair, but stable." She smiled to me as she spoke.

"What about the others?"

"I'll send a report to you once you're up." I slung myself around and dropped to the floor. I cringed as pain shot through my right leg. I remember the brute spike and the plasma round. I shoved the pain back and stood up.

"I'm up, where's the damned report?" the captain smiled.

"In your office, Sergeant." I nodded as I grabbed the fatigues left on the med table beside me. I realized that I wasn't on a monitor as I pulled the uniform on.

"Sergeant? How long was I out, ma-am?" she smiled again she responded.

"Only about twelve hours. The promotion may only be temporary." I nodded as she led the way out of the small ward. It opened into a surgery area with seven other doors, likely leading to similar wards. We walked to the end and stepped out of the door and into the hallway.

"While in the city, did you happen to find the superintendent, or its data?" She stopped as she spoke to me.

"Where's my gear?" she gave me a puzzled look as she pointed down the hall.

"Down in the hanger bay. I had the techs repair armor and weapons that were damaged. Some of those are in the armory. Corporal, have Corporal Beasley moved down to the hanger." The corporal nodded as he spoke into his radio. I signaled to the Captain to lead the way.

"After you Ma-am, it is your ship after all." She smirked and led the way down the hallway. My voice startled me as I spoke.

"Ma-am, where did your ship come from?" she seemed to debate something with herself before she spoke.

"Well, we arrived about twenty minutes before we pulled you off planet. We picked something up and noticed your convoy. I followed it, against my orders. I engaged as soon as we had a good position to fire down on the covies." I thought for a second as she spoke.

"Wait, this ship has an active camo system. That's the only way you could've gotten down to the planet. The fleet had punched just large enough of a hole to EVAC civvies in the enemy's blockade. Which would also explain this ship randomly appearing." The Captain cringed a little as I spoke.

"Well, technically, that is top secret information. But yes, this ship is equipped with an active camouflage system as well as other electronic disruption systems, both active and passive. In short, we can hide from any ship, human or covenant. Officially, she is part of a new design group, known as the Charon Mark Two Heavy Frigate. She has been modified from the standard mark two design for stealth ops. Rigged for deep space support missions, Charon Mark Two's have bigger reactors, more armor, a longer MAC gun, and firepower to outgun a Paris class. They also have twenty four Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles. Drop pods as you like to call them. Most other frigates only have twelve. She is also wider, taller and longer than even the Paris class, giving us a bigger hanger and supply compliment than other frigates, while having roughly the same crew." The captain smiled as I responded.

"Sounds useful. How many are Charon Mark Two's are there?" she held up three fingers as she spoke.

"Three. The Bastogne, the Normandy, and the Gettysburg. The other two are prototypes on trails for the standard design." The small troupe fell silent as we walked into an elevator. She depressed a button and the elevator shot down to the hanger deck. I glanced up, inspecting the racks built into the top of the hanger. There were six Pelicans hanging from the center rack, each one facing the back of the ship. On the sides of the bay, were twelve empty racks in a configuration I didn't recognize. On the deck of the hanger was a handful of hornets as well as a fifth pelican and a vulture gunship.

"Wander, it's great to see ya awake. How ya feelin?" Beasley came trotting over from the pile of equipment lying on the deck.

"I'm fine. Where's my gear?" Beasley pointed and I noticed the second soldier crouched, sorting through the gear.

"Right over there, Anderson has been working on sorting the gear out." I nodded and moved over to him.

"Private, find my gear yet?" he nodded and pointed over to a much smaller pile a short distance away. I found my pistol lying on top of the pile, neatly tucked away in its holster. I strapped the holster on, felling the empty magazine well on the pistol. I opened my pack and grabbed out two of the magazines, both fully loaded, and slid one in the weapon and the other into a pouch on the holster. I dug through the pile until I found my wrist computer, which someone had pulled off my armor. I yanked out the memory chip and pocketed it.

"So ah Wander, I didn't get to properly introduce myself earlier. My name's Jimmy Anderson." He held out his hand for me to shake it. I glared at him for a second, making it clear that I wasn't going to accept it.

"Private, where is specialist Carrion's kit?" he shrugged and pointed off to another pile. I opened her pack and grabbed out the databank with the AI's data. My breath came in ragged gasps as I trotted back to the captain.

"Is that the AI?" Beasley trotted over to join us as I shook my head, revealing the AI chip in my pocket.

"No ma-am. This is the AI. The core is its data, ma-am." She nodded and signaled to me to follow.

"Just so you know, I do not permit carrying weapons on my ship unless you are security staff or prepping for combat." I dropped my hand to the weapon as I responded.

"Ma-am, with all due respect, my weapon stays with me. Loaded. Period, ma-am." She smirked as she spoke.

"How come every person that says 'with all due respect' they really mean 'kiss my ass'? I'll let it slide. This time." The elevator whisked us up to the bridge deck and she led me to a conference room behind the bridge. The door slid open and pure rage funneled through my body as I recognized the man across the table from me.

()

Beasley struggled to control Dan as he tried to dive across the table at the Doctor. The AI's data had clattered to the floor, forgotten in the struggle. Dan had managed to get close enough to the doctor to hammer his face.

"You son of a bitch! You tried to kill us! The Captain stepped in between Wander and Colman as he spoke.

"Captain, this man shot one of my troopers, he should be put death."

"Doctor, expla…." The captain was cut off by Wander.

"Ma-am, he gave his men orders to kill us. I had to take the shot!" the Doctor snarled as he spoke.

"You useless lying…" his voice was cut off as the captain slammed her fist into his chest.

"You, sit down and shut up. You, full story, now." Wander glared at the doctor as he spoke, crossing his arms.

"We got shot down in the city. His troops found us, pulled us out. He then threatened to leave us planet side if we didn't help him find the super intendant. We found it and he had his guys threaten us at gunpoint. If we didn't hand over the AI, they were to fire. Turns out, he dumped everyone behind us, wounded included." Beasley nodded and spoke.

"He's telling the truth ma-am." She nodded as she spoke.

"I know. It's not the only time he tried to leave you behind. He tried to order me to not save you. I told him to eff off. My ship, my decision. And I don't leave guys behind. Coleman, if I don't hear one sweet and sappy apology, you aint getting this data. If it wasn't for my decision, you wouldn't have access to it." Coleman's face was covered in pure rage.

"Fine. Captain, I am sorry I ordered you to not save your precious soldiers." She glared at him as she picked up the data cell.

"Wander, is this the AI?" I shook my head, showing her the chip.

"No, just the data." She smirked as she tossed it at the Doctor.

"Since you only apologized to me, you only get the data. Enjoy trying to analyze it without an AI. Wander, follow me." Beasley followed the two of them as he listened in.

"I hate that guy. Been trying to take command of my ship ever since he came on board. I'm sorry but for now, you need to stay in the med bay. We don't have any open bunks on the ship. Beasley already knows that." Dan nodded to her as they stepped into the elevator.

"I'm guessing I have free roam of the ship, aside from the obvious restrictions, engineering, bridge and so on. Ma-am."

"Yes, as well as deck three. All of deck three. There is a galley on deck two with the med bay; armory is just above the hanger. We have a simulated weapon range off of it. Your armor and weapons are stored there with no munitions. I'll let your sidearm slide. You do have access to the bridge though." He nodded as the elevator stopped again and the small group stepped out.

"What about my guys." Wander stopped dead in his tracks, crossing his arms at her.

"You have full access to their rooms; given the same privacy id expect you to give them. And I'll have a roster brought to you soon. Get some rest Sergeant, it's a long flight." He nodded and stepped into the med bay.

"Ma-am, I'm going back down to the hanger. Going to help sort stuff out."

"Wait, Beasley, has he always been this stiff and well, disrespectful?"

"You get used to it. He aint friendly, but he takes care of his team. It's all he has. I'm sorry if it's buggin' ya ma-am." She nodded as he saluted and darted away, lost in his own thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9

Carrion heard a faint rhythmic beep as she slowly awoke. Her eye's flicked open and she slowly sat up. Something tugged slightly at her arm as her entire body throbbed. She couldn't even use her right arm through the pain. The room she was in had four other beds in it. Both of the beds beside her were empty, but the last bed to the left of her had someone in it. She tried to tell who it was, but her vision swam as she nearly collapsed from the pain. The door slid open and she watched as a soldier in fatigues walked in with someone in a medical uniform.

"Here is the roster you asked for sergeant." He nodded, accepting the data pad from the doctor.

"Thanks doc, let me know how that transplant goes." The doctor nodded and stepped out as she recognized Wander.

"Wander? I… when did you become a sergeant?" he looked at her with what seemed like bewilderment as he spoke.

"It's temporary. Go back to sleep." He stripped off his uniform jacket and dropped down on his bunk, almost instantly asleep. A nurse came in and walked up beside her.

"How are you Miss Carrion?" she grimaced as she spoke.

"Like crap ma-am. Can't use my right arm, trouble breathing, gut feels like liquid, leg is burning, back is in pain. Ma-am." The nurse nodded as she sat her up, slowly stripping off each of the bandages to inspect the injuries beneath.

"Well, your injuries have improved, surprisingly enough. You need to rest. Ill up the pain meds a little bit to help you sleep." The nurse smiled as she punched in a few commands on the monitor beside her.

"I can't sleep. Where is Haden?" the nurse glanced at her, confused. "Private Haden Bale, did he survive?" she smiled as she realized who carrion was talking about.

"Yes, he did. He is in surgery right now, lung transplant. Doctor Richardson is very optimistic about his condition. He's in good hands Miss." Carrion smiled back at her as she drifted off to sleep.

()

_I stared into Mikayla's eyes as I held her in my lap, pressing my shirt into her gaping stomach, barely affecting the torrent of blood flowing out. I knew she only had seconds left._

_"Damn it Mikayla, hold on. You can make it. Don't die on me girl. I love you!" she smiled up at me, her voice weak._

_"Through ash and dust, wind and rain, life and death, I have and always will be, by your side. I have always loved you Dan," her smile didn't fade as she raised her hand to my cheek. I grabbed her hand and pressed it to my face, closing my eyes to fight off the tears as the airlock sealed beside us. The floor vibrated as the thrusters fired, lifting the civilian liner into the air. Mikayla's hand went limp in my own and I screamed, no longer trying to hold back the tears._

Carrion suddenly awoke as someone screamed. She shot up when she heard a pistol get racked and the safety flicked off. She could barely see Wander's outline as he shook violently his weapon was scanning the room and she noticed that he was drenched in sweat.

"Whoa there Dan. Put the gun down." She recognized Reynolds voice and Wander calmed down a little.

"Dan, it's alright. Just calm down." Her own voice felt weak as she spoke. The weapon's safety clicked back on and he slipped it back in its holster. His eyes still flicked wildly around the room as his breath came in ragged gasps.

"What the fuck are you two looking at? Go back to sleep." Right after he spoke, the door slid open and one of the nurses stepped in, flicking the lights on.

"Everyone okay? I heard someone scream." Wander spoke up before anyone else could.

"Were fine. It was nothing." He dropped back down to his bunk and seemed to instantly fall asleep. The light turned back off and carrion felt herself drift off.

Beasley stepped off the elevator and into the hanger. Anderson was now sitting on one of the many cargo crates, chatting with what looked like Ryan and a marine he didn't know. Something seemed familiar about the third soldier and he simply couldn't place it. Anderson's voice rang out across the hanger as he called to Beasley.

"Hey Damien, get over here!" Beasley trotted over as he greeted Ryan and Anderson.

"Hey Anderson. David, how's the leg?" Ryan was still on crutches from the leg he broke.

"Hurts like hell. But doc says he is going to do some reinforcement of it as it heals. Works by me. Already broken the damn thing about five times in my life." Beasley smirked as he spoke to the unknown marine.

"Who are you?" he tried to make his tone friendly to the young trooper.

"My name is Gibson Jones. My friends just call me Gibbs though." He smiled to him as his memory clicked into place.

"Jones, hey, glad you made it out." All of their faces dropped as they remembered all of the soldiers left dead on the planet.

"I lost my family down there." They all looked at Anderson as he spoke. Beasley patted him on the shoulder as he spoke.

"Hey, hang in there kid. War is brutal, war is hell. And these aliens, don't respect life like we do. They won't spare civilians. Just remember that the next time we see them. And know that no matter what happens, we are your family. To the end." The other two nodded in agreement. Tears filled the young man's eyes as he let himself cry. The other two both placed their hands on his shoulders as he spoke.

"My sister, she was only sixteen. Just gotten her first boyfriend what a week ago? My dad was a farmer. Was damn good at it too. Everyone wanted the food he grew. My mother was a nurse at one of the biggest hospitals on the planet. Was considered one of the best. And now, they are all gone." He felt his heart sink, thinking of his one year old boy at home. He hadn't seen him in almost eight months. Images of his wife shot through his mind and tears started to flow out. He glanced at the two people beside him and noticed that the entire group had tears in their eyes.

"Hey, let's get this gear sorted and stowed. This war aint over, so unless you want someone else losing it all, I suggest you kick some alien ass, Hooyah?!" the two army troopers chanted Hooah at the same time as jones' Hooyah, creating a somewhat disgruntled sound. The four of them moved to the pile of gear and slowly started sorting through all of it.

()

Carrion slipped out of her hospital bed, wincing in pain as she slowly pulled her clothing on. She had to go find Wander. After the first night and his nightmare, he was moved to an empty officer's stateroom. She hadn't seen him in almost a week and she wanted to make sure he was alright. She knew the docs wanted her to stay in bed, but she couldn't. Her leg and shoulder burned as she slipped on her boots. She tried to move quietly through the med bay as she whimpered with almost every step. Her hand stayed tight to her stomach where a dull throb was still constantly there. She limped out one of the main doors into the hallway. She started debating how to find him and nearly missed him slip out of the cafeteria.

"Hey! Dan!" she knew her voice was weak and he spun almost instantly, responding as he did so.

"Carrion, shouldn't you be in the med bay?" she nodded as he approached her.

"Yeah I know but I'm worried about you. You saved all of our lives, so I owe you that much. Are you okay?" he crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Back off. I'm fine." She sensed the hostility in his voice and she quickly changed the subject.

"Sergeant Wander? Who did I remind you off back on Verent?" she saw a flash of pain rip through his body as he spoke.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Go back to bed." He moved to turn away and she grabbed his arm.

"Dan, in the club. You said I reminded you of someone. That person, it's who your nightmares are about, isn't it? You lost someone on Actium, someone you were close to. That's who I reminded you of?" he tore his arm out of her grip and snarled as he spoke.

"I said, go back to bed Carrion. That's an order. I'll court martial you if you don't." she shied away from him as he turned and stalked down the hallway, disappearing into a side room. She slowly moved back into the med bay, two nurses nearly ran into her as they darted out to look for her.

()

Reynolds felt a hand gently resting on his shoulder. His eyes flicked open seeing the white ceiling above him in the med bay. He looked to his right and smiled when he saw Sánchez sitting next to him.

"Hey Lorianna. I was just thinking about you." She returned the smile as she spoke.

"I thought you agreed to never call me that again after I learned you were a Spartan?" he grinned as he spoke, knowing she never let anyone else use her first name.

"I don't care anymore. I'm just incredibly happy to see you again. Honestly, I thought I never would after that op years ago. Yet here we are." She smiled and blushed as she looked down.

"Neither did I. but I'm very glad." Her face dropped more as Reynolds spoke again.

"You never gave me an answer though." Her face dropped more as she seemed to remember something else.

"Kyle, Tanner is dead. Everyone from the old team is. Except me and you." Reynolds reached out and brushed a tear from her cheek, letting his hand rest on her shoulder.

"He will be missed. Don't give up. You are never going to lose me." She grabbed his hand, holding it for a second. She then placed it back at his side as she stood.

"I… better go." Reynolds blinked, trying to fight back tears.

"I can't stop you. But I wish I could." The silence between them lengthened until she stepped out of the med bay and the door sealed behind her. Reynolds mind drifted off to the past as he let himself fall back into a restless sleep.

()

Robles watched all of the screens and techs around her as they micro-managed their systems and other controls for the slip space jump.

"Lieutenant Stevens. Drop us into real space and set course for Tribute. We'll get extra supplies and drop the survivors there."

"Aye, Aye, ma-am." She watched as an array of blues and whites quickly changed in the viewport. Elongated stars appeared and quickly resolved into their individual points. The view drifted as he reset the course.

"Ma-am, it'll be an hour until we can fire the slip space drive again. Engineer brooks wants to make sure it's alright. Bastogne is brand new, ma-am." Lieutenant Chun at the engineering console glanced over her shoulder as she spoke.

"Alright. One hour. Then we gotta be under way again." They both saluted and she stepped off the bridge, her executive officer following. "Jeremiah, I want the helmet cams from the survivors brought to the briefing room on the double." He nodded as he stepped into the elevator. She stepped into the briefing room and sat down in one of the chairs, facing the screen. Within a few minutes, he trotted back in and plugged a data crystal into the wall. It showed Corporal D. Wander as it loaded the video and audio data. She fast forwarded the log until they reached the front line. She settled in, knowing that the footage she was about to watch was going to be horrifying and bloody. 

She felt a hand shake her awake and she realized she had fallen asleep. The log had been paused at what looked like a club house as Wander fired his rifle at thin air.

"Sorry ma-am, you should watch this next clip. Wander and Carrion got cut off and were severely outmanned." He resumed the clip and she watched the two of them worked together to bring down the elites and the other lighter infantry. She paused it as they summoned the elevator.

"Wow. If any of the other survivors are even half as good as them, I think we may just have found our team." Jeremiah smiled as he spoke.

"I do believe we have ma-am."


	10. Chapter 10

I stepped out of the chow line in the Galley and dropped into my usual seat in one of the back corners. No one ever tried to sit near me and I liked it that way. It had been almost four weeks since Verent and almost everyone had recovered. Reynolds and Bale were the only two still out. I dug into my food and was startled when a tray got set down beside me.

"Hey Wander." I looked up at the Captain's face as she sat down next to me.

"Ma-am." I nodded to her as I got back to my food.

"I hope you don't mind me sitting here. You're always alone." She smiled as she swallowed a spoonful of food.

"With all due respect, I prefer to be left alone Captain." She looked at me almost puzzled.

"With all due respect, Daniel, my name is Samantha. I'd prefer if you would use it during off-duty hours like this." I ignored her for a while as I finished what was on my tray. A question slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Why aren't you in the officers dining room?" she hesitated before she spoke.

"I like my guys to see that I'm one of them. Besides, that dick head Coleman insists on eating in there." I smiled, remembering what it felt like to slam my fist into his face.

"Nice to see ya smiling." I felt all of my senses kick into overdrive as I watched a soldier in fatigues shove Carrion and Bale apart. I listened as he spoke.

"Hey pretty. Ya know, I can show you the time of your life." I slipped out of my seat and moved up behind them as she spoke.

"What the hell are you doing? Get away from me, creep." She tried to stand up and leave, but he grabbed her arm. Bale moved to stop him, but Reynolds grabbed his arm.

"Hands off. Jack ass." My voice startled him and he stood as he turned around, keeping a tight grip on Carrion's arm.

"Or what?" I reached down and placed my hand on my handgun, unclipping the holster as I did so. He let go of her arm and swung a fist into my chest faster than I had ever seen someone do. I slammed onto the deck and rolled back to my feet. My sidearm had been knocked out of the holster. The soldier sprinted toward me and I narrowly side stepped his punch. I slammed my own fist into his gut and he barely flinched. I ducked his next swing and kicked at his knee. The big soldier dropped to his knees and I locked him in a choke hold before he could react.

"That's enough! Commander, take your team back to deck three! Wander, stand down!" I let go of him and he slipped out of the galley. Five others stood from elsewhere in the room, following him out. Robles handed me my handgun and I slipped it back in my holster.

"Wander, were you really going to shoot my guy?" I shook my head instead of speaking.

"I'm getting thrown in the brig now aren't I?" she shook her head as carrion stood up from her seat, rolling her sleeve up to reveal the bruises already forming on her arm.

"Damn, glad you got that guy off me, I've never seen anyone move like that before." We all started slightly when Reynolds joined the group.

"Yeah, but nobody beats our sergeant. Hooyah!" the rest of the Verent survivors all chanted their call from different parts of the galley.

"Alright! I want _all_ members of the Verent ground team inside the conference room in ten minutes! Move it or lose it troopers!" I saluted Robles as she walked out and everyone gathered around me.

"What's going on Dan?" Beasley's voice out gunned everyone else as they all chanted similar questions.

"Everyone shut up. I do not know what this is about, but we are all going to find out. Now stow your trays and move!" they all nodded and I grabbed my tray, dumping what little was left into the trash chute before dropping it into the tray chute. I was the first out of the galley, on my way up to the command and control deck.

()

Carrion stepped off the elevator onto the CIC deck, following Wander into the conference room. They all lined up against the far wall and Bale stood next to her, leaning on her lightly as he fought for air. The captain and the commander from the Galley marched in and stood across from them. The commander was no longer wearing fatigues, but some sort of underlay for body armor.

"Alright I know that you're all wondering why I brought you here. And yes, this does have something to do with the fight in the galley, but no it's not what it seems. Reynolds, why did you hold Bale back?" his voice rocked the room as he spoke.

"Because the commander is a Spartan. Mark three if I'm not mistaken. Bale would've been paste on the floor if I hadn't stopped him." She toke a second look at the commander, noticing for the first time just how young he was for a commander. He looked maybe eighteen or nineteen at most.

"Wander; explain why you would go up against a Spartan?" Wander hesitated for a second before he spoke.

"It doesn't matter whether I live or die. No one fucks with one of my guys. Period." She nodded as she turned to the commander.

"Commander, explain your actions."

"Yes Ma-am. I was testing your team. Everyone on your team reacted when I moved on just one of you. You were all ready to start engaging any personal posing a threat to any of you. Incredible, given how short you have known each other. More importantly, I have been reviewing all of your combat logs and if any of you were even half the Sergeant's skill, I'd want you on my team. All of you are damn good fighters. Would love to pit my team against you in a friendly trail of arms. Be quite the challenge. Ma-am." He nodded to her, showing he was finished.

"This ship was to do a trial run of its slip space drive, then return to reach for me to pick out a team of skilled soldiers for deep space combat ops. Specifically, incursions onto covenant worlds. Spartan team Specter was assigned to the ship as a heavy combat team. I _was_ going to return to reach to pick out a team but, I believe I've already found it. I can't make you join up, and if you do, you will be officially K-I-A. Unofficially, you will all go through multiple months of training, including drop school, and will have access to the cutting edge of equipment technology. If you decline, we will slip you in with one of the ships that made it back, and you will deny ever seeing this ship or its crew. Our missions are fit for Spartans. If you want to stay, step forward." Without even a seconds pause, wander stepped forward.

"Ma-am, will our families be notified that we aren't actually dead?" carrions voice shocked her as she spoke. The captain nodded and she stepped forward. Everyone else seemed to stand there for a second before each and every single one stepped forward, the last being sergeant Baxter. His voice rang out as everyone settled back into a line.

"Gimme a tank, ten shit tons o' covies, and a hundred cases of cigars. You won't get the cigars back, nor the covies for that matter'." She smirked as the captain spoke.

"Alright, Carson, you will be the groups pilot, find yourself a copilot and I'll have the flight crew brief you about our birds. Baxter, grab Tate and familiarize yourself with our armored battle simulator. I want the two of you able to run any ground vehicle you could encounter. Also, I want you ready to go when we reach Reach. We will train you to be a part of the ground force as well. Wander, get your team together and prep your gear. We arrive at reach in two hours, and your training starts when we arrive. Welcome to the wraiths." She saluted to the group and carrion saluted back as just like the others.

"Dismissed!" she stepped out of the room, the rest of the group following. Carrion felt a hand grab her arm as she moved to step out. She turned to find the Spartan staring back at her. Bale moved to place himself between them, breaking the commander's grip.

"I just want to apologize to the specialist." Bale snarled slightly and carrion cut him off before he could speak.

"I'll be fine bale. Go on, I'll catch up." She smiled at him and his concern melted away. He nodded and stepped out of the room.

"Ma-am, I'm sorry about what I said in the galley. I didn't mean it. And I hope I didn't hurt you." She smiled at him as she spoke.

"Its fine, sir. I got some small bruises but, I'm fine." He nodded to her and she saluted him. He returned it and she darted off to the elevator.

()

I felt a finger tap my shoulder as I was entering the elevator. I spun and found the captain staring back at me.

"Wander, I need to speak to you. In private." I nodded to her as I responded.

"Yes Ma-am. Lead the way ma-am." She smiled and stepped into the door marked as captain's quarters. Inside was a small office with a second door branching off, which I assumed had her bunk and private bathroom.

"Sit down, please." She sat down behind her desk and I merely stood behind one of the chairs. The injury from the brute spiker still bothered me a little, especially when sitting down.

"I'd rather stand ma-am. My leg still twinges every now and then. I'm combat ready though." She nodded, unfazed by what I said.

"Alright. First thing on the to do list, to be in charge of the Wraiths, you need to be promoted to lieutenant. It's already done and we will deal with updating your dog tag implant on Reach. Second order of business is your record. When I first looked it up, you were MIA for fifteen months, then on 'recreational duty' for four months. I used my ONI codes to look up your record, and I found that ONI had you during that time. It also mentions you just showed up at tribute in a covenant seraph. I didn't have access to the full report. So why don't you fill me in." I collected my thoughts before I spoke. Memories flashed through my mind of the ONI interrogator and I shivered for a second.

"I was captured by an elite on a mining asteroid. I ran out of ammo and an elite challenged me to a duel. I didn't really realize it at that time. I managed to kill it and another one knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I was in a cell and there was an elite barking at me. He knew rudimentary English and that's it. After about a week, it realized I was just a dumb grunt. No real useful knowledge. So it put me on a work detail. I was helping an engineer, or a huragok as I originally knew it, repair covenant weapons and armor. Under close guard. After about two weeks, of that, the shipmaster in charge of the frigate I was on, started talking to me. We slowly learned each other's languages until I was speaking his language to him and he spoke English to me. He had found the coordinates to tribute in the mining base and he made sure the ship passed tribute. He had the engineer modify a seraph fighter, then damage systems across a path to the hanger. He brought me my weapons and equipment and released me. A small fire fight broke out in the hanger, the engineer died. ONI didn't believe me for four months." She nodded and thought for a little while.

"You can speak in the elite's language then?" I nodded and she continued. "Then what did you say to that Brute on Verent?" I smiled as I remembered.

"He said humans are weak. I responded with who is weaker, the one who submitted to slavery, or the one who fights to the death. Also told him humans are pack animals." She smiled as I spoke, knowing what happened less than a second later.

"Well, thank you for the honesty. You are dismissed, lieutenant." I saluted to her and she returned it. I was in the elevator before I knew it and I headed for the armory. I stepped off onto the deck and into the armory. Most of the team was already in there, checking out their gear and weapons as they strapped their armor on. Beasley's chest plate still had a burn on it, and my thigh plate still had the hole from the spike. I slipped into my gear, belting my handgun back on and slinging my rifle. My M7 sat in its clip on my left thigh, just as I had always carried it. I grabbed my helmet and watched the others as they all finished gathering gear. The group slowly gathered around me as they finished.

"Alright people, first things first, I have been permanently promoted to lieutenant. Second, be ready for anything down on reach. We don't know what kind of training they want to put us through, but I can guarantee you it will not be easy. Above everything, we are a team. If one of us falls, we all fall. Do I make myself clear?!" I watched as my group of ragtag soldiers chanted back at me, proud to be in command of them.

"Sir, yes sir!" my pride evaporated just seconds later. They didn't deserve to have me leading them. I knew I was just going to fail them.

"Alright, take ten minutes to finish collecting any gear you may have forgotten, then form up in the hanger. Dismissed!" they all rushed to find any missing gear as I stepped into the elevator, going down to the hanger.


End file.
